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COMMUNITY-DRIVEN CLIMATE SOLUTIONS: HOWPUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH LANDTRUSTS CAN ADVANCE CLIMATE ACTION

JESSICA GRANNIS*

INTRODUCTION

In 2018 and 2019, several landmark developments demonstratedthe failings of past efforts to address climate change and the need fornew and more ambitious solutions. In October 2018, the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) released a dire report indicating thatthe window is rapidly closing for countries to dramatically reduce emis-sions in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change andpredicting dramatic consequences to the environment and public healthif countries fail to take action;1 young activists started taking to the streetsto demand more ambitious action to address climate change;2 and, at the25th Conference of the Parties in December 2019, the United Nations is-sued a report that showed that not only are greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emis-sions not falling, but that global emissions actually grew by 2 percent in2018.3 These developments demonstrate the two major failings of climate

* Jessica Grannis is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Centerand the coastal resilience director for the National Audubon Society; she previouslyserved as the adaptation program director for the Georgetown Climate Center.1 See INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, SPECIAL REPORT: GLOBALWARMING OF 1.5°C (Valérie Masson-Delmotte et al. eds., 2018), https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/06/SR15_Full_Report_High_Res.pdf [https://perma.cc/6F92-UXAJ] [hereinafter IPCC 2018 SPECIAL REPORT]; see also Jonathan Watts, We have 12years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns the UN, GUARDIAN (Oct. 8, 2018), https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report [https://perma.cc/JED6-SY6U].2 Adam Aton, Greta’s young climate movement is maturing, E&E NEWS (Dec. 9, 2019),https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2019/12/09/stories/1061760457 [https://perma.cc/6AS5-4X7P]; Somini Sengupta, Protesting Climate Change, Young People Take to Streets ina Global Strike, N.Y. TIMES (Sept. 21, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/climate/global-climate-strike.html [https://perma.cc/4YFB-NEYN].3 UNITED NATIONS ENV’T PROGRAMME, EMISSIONS GAP REPORT 2019 XIV (Nov. 2019),https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30797/EGR2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [https://perma.cc/J6W6-FTW5]; see also Somini Sengupta, ‘Bleak’ U.N.Report on a Planet in Peril Looms Over New Climate Talks, N.Y. TIMES (Nov. 26, 2019),https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-carbon.html[https://perma.cc/XT9D-JB7N].

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efforts to date. First, past debates about climate solutions have failed toaccount for key “stakeholders” who stand to lose the most if countries failto address the problem: marginalized communities, youth and futuregenerations, and the environment. Second, the failure of some countriesto reduce emissions, even with commitments made under the 2015 ParisAgreement,4 demonstrates that climate change presents an intractablecollective action problem. Polluters are not fully bearing the costs of thepollution they are generating and, instead, are gaining economic benefitsfrom the exploitation of the world’s atmosphere and the consequentimpacts to shared resources that will be affected by a changing climate.5

These failings demonstrate that dramatically different solutionsare needed to address the dire threat that climate change poses to com-munities and ecosystems around the globe. Crafting effective climatepolicy will require a broad coalition of public and private stakeholdersthat include a diversity of voices, including those who face the greatestthreats from the impacts of climate change and who have traditionally beenleft out of the policy debate. Effective climate action will also require thatcommunities both reduce the carbon pollution that is causing the earth

4 In 2015, in Paris, France, at the 21st Conference of the Parties (“COP21”), the Partiesto the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) reachedan agreement on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, called the “Paris Agreement.”In the Paris Agreement, the parties committed to strengthening emissions reductionsefforts with the goal of keeping the rise in global average temperatures below a 2 degreesCelsius increase from pre-industrial levels. To reach these goals, countries agreed tobinding commitments to reduce emissions to levels established by “nationally determinedcontributions” (NDCs). Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change (Dec. 12, 2015), in Rep. of the Conference of the Parties on its Twenty-FirstSession, Addendum UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1 [hereinafter Paris Agreement].5 PETER BARNES, CAPITALISM 3.0: A GUIDE TO RECLAIMING THE COMMONS 6, 66–71 (2006)(Peter Barnes argues that the “commons” are “shared gifts” we receive by virtue of beingmembers of a community and include natural (air, water, fisheries, aquifers, wetlands,forests, rivers, lakes, etc.), community (streets, playgrounds, universities, libraries, muse-ums), and cultural assets (language, philosophy, religion, music, the internet)); ELINOROSTROM, GOVERNING THE COMMONS: THE EVOLUTION OF INSTITUTIONS FOR COLLECTIVEACTION 30, 61–65 (1990) (Ostrom defines “common-pool resources” or “CPR” as a “naturalor man-made resource system that is sufficiently large as to make it costly (but not im-possible) to exclude potential beneficiaries from obtaining benefits from its use” and describescommunity-based management of common pool resources, rather than privatization orstate regulation of resource management). See generally Sheila R. Foster & Christian Iaione,The City as a Commons, 34 YALE L. & POL’Y REV. 281 (2016) (Professors Sheila Foster andChristian Iaione make a normative claim that the city and urban spaces (including parks,streets, community gardens, open space, and even vacant and under-utilized parcels)should be recognized as “common goods” where community has a right of access andshares in decision-making about how resources are used, distributed, and shared).

2020] COMMUNITY-DRIVEN CLIMATE SOLUTIONS 703

to warm (mitigation), and, at the same time, prepare for the inevitableimpacts of climate change that are already locked in as a result of pastemissions (adaptation). Effective solutions will also need to consider theroles and contributions of both the built and natural environments. Naturalenvironments are not only important carbon sinks that can be critical com-ponents of mitigation efforts, but they also provide vital ecological ser-vices that will be critical to the capacity of communities to adapt to climateimpacts.6 The built environment not only contributes significantly to green-house gas emissions; it also includes the systems that communities rely onto survive and thrive in the face of climate risks.7 Additionally, the solu-tions advanced need to address other socioeconomic and environmentalstressors that weaken communities and ecosystems and reduce their capa-city to cope with and withstand impacts from climate change (resilience).And, while governments have started to take some actions to mitigateand adapt to climate change, the efforts underway are not nearly enoughto address the magnitude of the challenge. The pace and scale of actionneeded to slow climate change and prepare for its inevitable consequencesrequires dramatic changes at all levels of government and the participa-tion of both the public and private sectors.

To that end, this Article examines the potential for innovativepublic-private partnerships between government and land trusts as oneway of advancing climate solutions in both the built and natural environ-ments. Land trusts are non-profit organizations that hold land in trust forthe benefit of the public.8 Land trusts can help to address many of thefailings of past climate debates because, at their core, land trusts arecommunity-oriented organizations that involve and engage a diverse arrayof residents and stakeholders, and were founded to steward lands for thebenefit of the environment and future generations.9 Land trusts arealready playing important roles in rural and urban communities aroundthe country to enhance environmental sustainability and communityresilience.10 Through legal and policy approaches, the public sector can

6 See More About Ecosystem Services, U.S. FOREST SERV., https://www.fs.fed.us/ecosystemservices/About_ES/index.shtml [https://perma.cc/W5XM-D5JK] (last updated Oct. 7, 2016).7 See C. Malalgoda et al., Exploring Disaster Risk Reduction in the Built Environment 1,8–9 (Univ. of Salford, 2010).8 See infra Section III.A.9 Marcia Caton Campbell et al., Community and Conservation Land Trusts as Unlikely Part-ners? The Case of Troy Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin, 20 LAND USE POL’Y 169, 169 (2003).10 See, e.g., HOUS. ASSISTANCE COUNCIL, COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS AND RURAL HOUSING1, 3–4 (Apr. 1993), http://www.ruralhome.org/storage/documents/communitylandtrusts.pdf [https://perma.cc/6DNK-4WBZ].


further catalyze land trust roles to broaden the support for and efficacyof climate actions on the ground.

This Article will first lay out the climate challenge, including howclimate change and the solutions needed to address climate change willaffect both the built and natural environments, and the failure of govern-ments to mount an adequate response. Next, the Article will introduceland trusts and the roles that land trusts can, and are, playing in ad-vancing sustainability and resilience in both the natural and built envi-ronments. Finally, the Article discusses ways that governments can adoptlaws and policies to facilitate more robust roles for land trusts in advanc-ing climate solutions.

I. BACKGROUND: THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE

A. Physical Impacts

Climate change is already having profound effects on our naturaland built environments. Critical habitats—like wetlands, beaches, forests,and grasslands—are being degraded and lost at alarming rates.11 Moreintense storms and rising sea levels are drowning and eroding coastalecosystems (like wetlands and barrier islands), wildfires are consumingforests, warmer water temperatures are affecting riverine and coastalhabitats and species, and drought is straining water supplies needed tosustain freshwater ecosystems, among other effects.12 These impacts willhave significant consequences for the communities that rely on these eco-systems for clean air, clean water, sources of food, and other uses.13 Simi-larly, built environments—the homes, businesses, and infrastructure thatcommunities rely on to support and provide critical services to residentsand to drive local economies—are also increasingly being affected by theimpacts of climate change.14 Coastal communities are increasingly ex-periencing more damaging floods as a result of sea-level rise and moreintense coastal storms; more intense rainfall events are overwhelmingstormwater systems; changing precipitation and snow-melt patterns are

11 Climate Impacts on Ecosystems, EPA, https://archive.epa.gov/epa/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-ecosystems.html [https://perma.cc/8473-2TUE] (last updated May 31, 2017).12 U.S. GLOB. CHANGE RESEARCH PROGRAM, FOURTH NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT,VOLUME II: IMPACTS, RISKS, AND ADAPTATION IN THE UNITED STATES 272, 278, 284–86(D.R. Reidmiller et al. eds., 2018), https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/downloads/NCA4_2018_FullReport.pdf [https://perma.cc/J8WQ-UKJP] [hereinafter NCA4, VOL. II].13 Id. at 284.14 Id. at 439–40.


overflowing rivers; longer and more intense heat waves are threateningpublic health and degrading infrastructure; and increasing drought isstraining the ability of some communities to meet demands for water.15

Even greater impacts are anticipated if countries fail to meet the goals ofthe Paris Agreement to reduce emissions to keep the planet’s temperaturerise under two degrees Celcius with efforts to limit temperature increasesto 1.5 degrees Celcius below pre-industrial levels.16

B. Adaptation

Solutions to adapt to these impacts will need to address increasingrisks to resources and assets in both the built and natural environments.In the built environment, many communities are already planning for andmaking changes needed to prepare. These changes include floodproofinghomes, businesses, and infrastructure to adapt to changing flood risks;removing impervious surfaces to reduce urban heat islands and storm-water flooding; and modernizing the power grid to enhance resilience toextreme weather events, among other adaptation strategies.17 However,communities are also recognizing that the resilience of the built environ-ment is critically dependent on the health and resilience of the naturalsystems that communities rely upon.18 Natural landscapes provide criticalecosystem services, and their health will affect the adaptive capacity ofcommunities.19 For example, wetlands and natural flood-plains filterpolluted runoff, provide natural flood buffers for communities, and serve ashabitats and breeding grounds for fisheries and other important species.20

Reducing or avoiding impacts from climate change will require signifi-cant investments to protect, preserve, restore, and adaptively manage

15 Id.; see also id. at 323–24.16 IPCC 2018 SPECIAL REPORT, supra note 1, at 177–81.17 NCA4, VOL. II, supra note 12, at 1319–21.18 See Built Environment: Key Points, U.S. CLIMATE RESILIENCE TOOLKIT, https://toolkit.climate.gov/topics/built-environment [https://perma.cc/738E-7NSR] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).19 NCA4, VOL. II, supra note 12, at 278; see also U.S. FOREST SERV., supra note 6 (TheU.S. Forest Service has adopted the United Nation’s Millennium Ecosystem Assessmentwhich defines ecosystem services as the “benefits people obtain from ecosystems.” TheAssessment categorizes ecosystem services into four categories: (i) “Provisioning Servicesor the provision of food, fresh water, fuel, fiber, and other goods;” (ii) “Regulating Servicessuch as climate, water, and disease regulation as well as pollination;” (iii) “SupportingServices such as soil formation and nutrient cycling;” and (iv) “Cultural Services such aseducational, aesthetic, and cultural heritage values as well as recreation and tourism.”).20 See NCA4, VOL. II, supra note 12, at 284–86; see also U.S. FOREST SERV., supra note 6.


natural landscapes to preserve species, habitats, and natural resources inthe face of a changing climate.21

C. Mitigation

Natural and built environments will also play critical roles in ad-dressing the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. Naturalenvironments serve as important sinks that absorb and store carbon pollu-tion and are increasingly becoming areas for siting renewable energyinstallations.22 Additionally, the built environment is a significant sourceof greenhouse gases, as most homes and businesses are currently heatedand powered by fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas.23 To reduce GHGcontributions from the building sector, significant changes will be neededto increase renewable energy sources of power and to weatherize, elec-trify, and increase the energy efficiency of buildings and infrastructure.24

D. Resilience

In addition, actions will be needed to address the pervasive “stres-sors” that weaken the ability of built communities and natural landscapesto respond to and withstand climate-related impacts from increasinglyextreme weather. From the standpoint of the built environment, manycommunities are recognizing that their resilience to climate change is

21 See R.I. SEA GRANT & U.R.I. COASTAL RES. CTR., BUILDING CAPACITY TO ADAPT TO CLI-MATE CHANGE THROUGH LOCAL CONSERVATION EFFORTS: A SOUTH KINGSTOWN LAND TRUSTPILOT PROJECT 8 (2013), https://www.crc.uri.edu/download/climate_sklt_final-1.pdf [https://perma.cc/2QUJ-URCL] [hereinafter U.R.I. BUILDING CAPACITY] (This Rhode Island SeaGrant report provides a discussion of potential climate impacts to ecosystems and naturallandscapes in Rhode Island and describes how adaptive management approaches can beused to address climate impacts to ecosystems. In the context of climate change, adaptivemanagement of natural ecosystems calls for a flexible approach to management that usesmonitoring data to determine how species are being affected by changing climate con-ditions and adjusting management actions to achieve predefined conservation goals.); seealso Adaptive management of natural habitats, CLIMATE-ADAPT (2015), https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/metadata/adaptation-options/adaptive-management-of-natural-habitats[https://perma.cc/Q6WV-4APB] (last updated Jan. 9, 2015).22 The Land Trust Alliance estimates that natural lands—such as forests, prairies, andfarmland—absorb approximately 15 percent of U.S. carbon pollution. Climate Change: Landand Climate Program, LAND TR. ALLIANCE, https://www.landtrustalliance.org/topics/climate-change#b_start=0 [https://perma.cc/WH5W-5667] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).23 JESSICA LEUNG, CTR. FOR CLIMATE & ENERGY SOLUTIONS, DECARBONIZING U.S. BUILD-INGS 1–2 (July 2018), https://www.c2es.org/site/assets/uploads/2018/06/innovation-buildings-background-brief-07-18.pdf [https://perma.cc/ZJF9-X25T].24 Id. at 4–5.


critically dependent on their ability to address chronic stressors that“weaken the fabric of communities,” such as poverty, crime, racial inequal-ity, aging infrastructure, lack of affordable housing, and other stresses.25

Similarly, in the natural environment, non-climate stressors—such asencroaching development, pollution, and invasive species—all underminethe ability of ecosystems to adapt to a changing climate and to providethe essential ecosystem services on which communities rely.26 As a result

25 In its work to promote urban resilience through the 100 Resilient Cities (“100RC”)initiative, the Rockefeller Foundation defined resilience as “the capacity of individuals,communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, andgrow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.” Whatis Urban Resilience?, 100 RESILIENT CITIES, https://www.100resilientcities.org/resources/[https://perma.cc/SF6E-5CX5] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020). In developing this definition ofresilience, the Rockefeller Foundation relied on a Community Resilience Index developedby the consulting firm Arup. ARUP, THE CITY RESILIENCE INDEX: UNDERSTANDING ANDMEASURING CITY RESILIENCE, https://www.arup.com/perspectives/publications/research/section/city-resilience-index [https://perma.cc/D8GF-ZU96] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020). Thisdefinition was also adapted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development(“HUD”), which defined resilience as a community’s ability “to resist and rapidly recoverfrom disasters or other shocks with minimal outside assistance” in the National DisasterResilience Competition, which HUD hosted after Hurricane Sandy to encourage commu-nities to use disaster recovery funds to rebuild in ways that would enhance resilience tofuture impacts. U.S. DEP’T OF HOUS. & URBAN DEV., NATIONAL DISASTER RESILIENCE COM-PETITION: PHASE 2 FACT SHEET 2 (June 2015), https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/NDRCFACTSHEETFINAL.PDF [https://perma.cc/XG8J-CH4Z].26 In the natural environment, resilience has been defined as “[t]he ability of a social orecological system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same basic structure andways of functioning, the capacity for self-organization, and the capacity to adapt to stress andchange.” U.R.I. BUILDING CAPACITY, supra note 21, at 17 (citing IPCC and the Land TrustAlliance Climate Glossary). In its Conserving Nature in a Changing Climate Guide, theOpen Space Institute and North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative defineresilience in the natural environment as follows:

Ecological resilience is a term ecologists have used for decades to referto the ability of plants, animals, and natural processes to persist in theface of change. Building on this concept, climate resilience is thespecific set of conditions that makes systems better able to cope withthe changes caused by a warming planet. Specifically, climate resiliencedemonstrates how the land’s specific characteristics can mitigate theeffects of changing climate and weather patterns, such as gradual in-creases in temperature, changes in precipitation (both wetter and drierweather), sea level rise, and more severe and frequent storms. By defini-tion, resilient sites are better able to tolerate these disruptions, and willrequire fewer interventions to restore species diversity and supportnatural processes.

OPEN SPACE INST. & N. ATL. LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION COOP., CONSERVING NATURE INA CHANGING CLIMATE: A THREE-PART GUIDE FOR LAND TRUSTS IN THE NORTHEAST 12


of this developing understanding of the connections between resilience toclimate threats and existing socioeconomic and environmental conditions,many communities are pursuing more holistic solutions that address bothclimate threats and also deliver other social, economic, and environmen-tal benefits.27

II. DEFICIENCIES IN CURRENT CLIMATE POLICY

Although many state and local governments across the UnitedStates have started taking actions to address climate threats, current ef-forts are insufficient for addressing the magnitude of the climate challengefacing our communities and natural landscapes. In the United States, cli-mate policy is fragmented and climate action is inconsistent; while manystates and local governments are taking leadership roles in advancingclimate solutions, there is no consistent approach across all jurisdictionsand few top-down mandates to reduce emissions or address vulnerabili-ties to climate impacts.28 Federal efforts to address climate change havelargely been stymied by changes in administrations and political opposi-tion by groups that stand to lose economically.29 Some also argue that

(2016), https://lccnetwork.org/resource/conserving-nature-changing-climate-three-part-guide-land-trusts-northeast [https://perma.cc/4ZCP-ASWH].27 See, e.g., Kian Goh, A More Public Resilience? On Housing Justice and Climate Justice,INST. ON INEQUALITY & DEMOCRACY, https://challengeinequality.luskin.ucla.edu/2016/08/27/a-more-public-resilience-on-housing-justice-and-climate-justice/ [https://perma.cc/9VGF-7M3Z] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).28 Although there were attempts by the Obama administration to reduce emissions fromthe power and transportation sectors and to encourage state and local governments toprepare for the impacts of climate change, many of these rule changes are in the processof being reversed by the Trump administration. As a result, there is no consistent re-quirement that state and local governments take action on climate change. And while manystate and local governments are taking the lead and implementing innovative approachesto address climate change, there is no mandate that they do so and no comprehensive orsystematic approach required across all state and local governments. For a discussion ofthe Trump Administration’s rollback of climate policy at the federal level and state andlocal response, see Vicki Arroyo, State and Local Climate Leadership in the Trumpocene,11 CARBON & CLIMATE L. REV. 303, 303, 305 (2017); see also Nadja Popovich et al., 95Environmental Rules Being Rolled Back Under Trump, N.Y. TIMES, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html [https://perma.cc/G7JV-37VU] (last updated Dec. 21, 2019); Philip A. Wallach, Where does US climate policy standin 2019?, BROOKINGS (Mar. 22, 2019), https://www.brookings.edu/2019/03/22/where-does-u-s-climate-policy-stand-in-2019/ [https://perma.cc/N4SF-8B5X].29 See Eric Zusman et al., Why the United States Lacks a Federal Climate Policy: Collec-tive Action Problems, Tea Parties, and Blue Dogs 6–7 (Inst. for Glob. Envtl. Strategies,Working Paper-CC-2011-05, 2011), https://iges.or.jp/en/publication_documents/pub/workingpaper/en/2441/us_climate_policy.pdf [https://perma.cc/TZ8H-6Q3G]; see also Why is


failings in climate policy derive from the fact that the key “stakeholders”that will be most affected by climate change have the least influence in thedebate, including marginalized communities on the front lines of climateimpacts, youth and future generations, and the environment.30 Addition-ally, even if governments are able to mount a robust response to the climatecrisis, a broad coalition of actors, including all levels of government andthe private sector, will be needed to address the problem at the pace andscale needed. Past failings to adopt comprehensive climate legislation sug-gest that new innovative approaches and partnerships will be needed,including public-private partnerships that can bring new parties to thetable and include those constituencies who have historically been under-valued or ignored in past efforts.

In this Article, opportunities for public-private partnerships be-tween land trusts and governments are explored as an opportunity foradvancing collective action and equitable solutions to climate changethat value the environment and future generations. While there are anynumber of private actors and institutions that will play important rolesin advancing climate solutions, land trusts are uniquely suited for fosteringsolutions that can reduce carbon pollution, increase community resil-ience, and address pervasive socioeconomic and environmental stressorsthat undermine the ability of communities and ecosystems to survive andthrive in the face of a changing climate.

III. BACKGROUND: WHY LAND TRUSTS?

Land trusts can play unique roles in the fight against climatechange in both the built and natural environments. This section discussesways in which land trusts can support sustainability and resilience ini-tiatives and the unique value that partnerships with land trusts can bringto the development of climate solutions.

A. What Are Land Trusts?

Land trusts are non-profit organizations that are incorporated forthe purpose of acquiring and holding land in trust for public benefit.31

Many states have adopted enabling legislation to specifically authorizeland trusts to acquire and hold land and to provide tax and other incentives

climate change so hard to tackle?, ECONOMIST (Dec. 1, 2018), https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/12/01/why-is-climate-change-so-hard-to-tackle [https://perma.cc/9N42-8RCV].30 BARNES, supra note 5, at 11, 38.31 Campbell et al., supra note 9, at 169–70.


to encourage land stewardship activities.32 For purposes of this Article,two types of land trusts are considered:

• Conservation land trusts focus on preserving andprotecting undeveloped lands for their natural re-source values and are formed for the main purposeof stewarding land for conservation purposes, suchas protecting natural habitats, watersheds, andnatural open space or preserving land for farming,forestry, or recreational uses.33 Conservation landtrusts work to preserve important natural land-scapes by acquiring land or interests in land(through conservation easements34) with high eco-logical or conservation value. The land trust thenlimits uses and development on the land to achieveconservation goals and to ensure long-term stew-ardship for environmentally beneficial uses. Con-servation land trusts often work more in rural andless developed areas with sensitive or valuablenatural resources.35 As of 2017, there were approxi-mately 1,363 accredited conservation land trusts,stewarding approximately 56 million acres acrossthe United States.36

32 See Andrew Decker, Community Land Trusts and State Legislation: A Model to EnableThis Affordable Housing Tool, 26 J. AFFORDABLE HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEV. L. 489,496–97 (2018). For a discussion of tax incentives for conservation easements, see alsoMarc Campopiano, The Land Trust Alliance’s New Accreditation Program, 33 ECOLOGYL.Q. 897, 902–03 (2006).33 Campbell et al., supra note 9, at 169–70.34 A conservation easement is an interest in land often donated by the landowner to athird-party organization, such as a land trust or government agency. The easement isrecorded against the property to bind future landowners and includes terms that limitdevelopment of the property and sometimes require management activities to preserveimportant natural resources on the site. By dedicating a conservation easement, landown-ers qualify for state and federal tax incentives. For a discussion of conservation easements,see Conservation Options, LAND TR. ALLIANCE, https://www.landtrustalliance.org/what-you-can-do/conserve-your-land/conservation-options [https://perma.cc/K3HU-HZ4L] (lastvisited Mar. 9, 2020); see also Campopiano, supra note 32, at 902–03.35 See, e.g., Leslie Jones, Land Conservation Strengthens Rural Communities: Examplesof the Land and Water Conservation Fund at Work, U.S. DEP’T AGRIC. (Feb. 21, 2017), https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2014/07/24/land-conservation-strengthens-rural-communities-examples-land-and-water [https://perma.cc/EJ2C-6CP4].36 LAND TR. ALL., 2015 NATIONAL LAND TRUST CENSUS REPORT: OUR COMMON GROUND


• Community land trusts, on the other hand, focusmore on the built environment and are formed withthe purpose of acquiring, developing, and stewardingland for community uses including affordable hous-ing, economic development activities, and othercommunity amenities (parks, community gardens,etc.).37 Community land trusts acquire land throughpurchase or donation and then build new or reha-bilitate existing housing or other community assetson the land.38 The land trust preserves permanentaffordability by retaining title to the underlying landbut selling (or renting) improvements or homes onthe land.39 By permanently separating the land fromthe value of the improvement, land trusts removeland from the speculative market, retain the publicsubsidy used to build the housing, and ensure per-manent affordability for residents and future gener-ations.40 Community land trusts tend to work morein developed urban areas and regions.41 There are

AND COLLECTIVE IMPACT 3 (2015), http://s3.amazonaws.com/landtrustalliance.org/2015NationalLandTrustCensusReport.pdf [https://perma.cc/3MC5-SMXP]; Number of AccreditedLand Trusts Reaches Milestone, LAND TR. ALLIANCE (Feb. 22, 2017), https://www.landtrustalliance.org/number-accredited-land-trusts-reaches-milestone [https://perma.cc/XS8B-BNQM].37 Frequently Asked Questions, NYC COMMUNITY LAND INITIATIVE, https://nyccli.org/resources/clts-and-mhas-frequently-asked-questions/ [https://perma.cc/TKM5-FL7T] (lastvisited Mar. 9, 2020); Overview: Community Land Trusts (CLTs), COMMUNITY-WEALTH,https://community-wealth.org/strategies/panel/clts/index.html [https://perma.cc/TBQ9-R76U] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).38 See John Emmeus Davis et al., Building Better City-CLT Partnerships: A Program Manualfor Municipalities and Community Land Trusts 27, 30 (Lincoln Inst. of Land Policy, WorkingPaper WP08JD1, 2008); see also NYC COMMUNITY LAND INITIATIVE, supra note 37.39 The buyers of the structures are granted a lease to the land (typically for a term ofninety-nine years) for a small annual fee (e.g., $1,200/yr.). And resale of the property isrestricted using a resale restriction formula to ensure permanent affordability, but thatenables the homeowner to share in some of the appreciation in the home’s value at sale.Davis et al., supra note 38, at 6–7.40 See id. at 3.41 See, e.g., Alana Semuels, Affordable Housing, Always, ATLANTIC (July 6, 2015), https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/affordable-housing-always/397637/[https://perma.cc/TV4B-SKME]; see also Oksana Mironova, How Community Land TrustsCan Help Address the Affordable Housing Crisis, JACOBIN MAG. (July 6, 2019), https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/07/community-land-trusts-affordable-housing [https://perma.cc/EA3R-CWVG].


approximately 225 community land trusts support-ing affordable housing and other community devel-opment initiatives across the United States.42

B. Why Are Land Trusts Uniquely Suited to Supporting ClimateAction?

There are several unique features of land trusts that make themespecially powerful partners in helping communities address the climatecrisis:

• Community Empowerment and Control: One of thekey challenges policymakers face in addressingclimate change is the collective action and behaviorchange that is required to significantly reduceemissions and climate risks.43 Community landtrusts, in particular, have a unique governancemodel that can help to build political will and resi-dent support for actions to address climate changeand other socioeconomic and environmental chal-lenges at the community level.44 The “classic” com-munity land trust is governed by a tripartite boardthat includes residents, members of the broadercommunity, and other public and private sectorexperts and stakeholders (e.g., relevant govern-ment agencies, non-profits, community finance

42 Community Land Trusts, GROUNDED SOLUTIONS NETWORK, https://groundedsolutions.org/strengthening-neighborhoods/community-land-trusts [https://perma.cc/NZS9-NPUD](last visited Mar. 9, 2020).43 See Daniel C. Esty & Anthony L.I. Moffa, Why Climate Change Collective Action HasFailed And What Needs To Be Done Within And Without The Trade Regime, 15 J. INT’LECON. L. 777, 777–78 (2012).44 For a discussion of the various roles that land trusts are playing to activate communityownership and control of conservation and economic development activities and shifts toa “community conservation” model, see ERNIE ATENICO ET AL., CTR. FOR WHOLE CMTYS.,LAND CONSERVATION AND THE PUBLIC TRUST: THE CASE FOR COMMUNITY CONSERVATION(Jan. 2013), http://wholecommunities.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/CWCLandConservation2013.pdf [https://perma.cc/HY9V-3LNG]. For a discussion of democratic control as afoundational principle for community land trusts established in the United States, see JohnEmmeus Davis, Common Ground: Community-Owned Land as a Platform for Equitable andSustainable Development, 51 U.S.F. L. REV. 1, 6 (2017) [hereinafter Davis, Common Ground].


organizations, philanthropists, etc.).45 By giving com-munity members a voice in decision making aroundland use and stewardship of lands, land trusts cansupport more equitable climate solutions that reflectthe needs and priorities of the community. Becauseof their strong emphasis on social justice and com-munity control, community land trusts can be partic-ularly powerful partners for engaging communitiesthat have been historically marginalized and un-derrepresented in past climate debates—such aslow income communities and communities of color.46

Additionally, many conservation land trusts areengaging in community conservation initiatives toengage residents in land trust activities.47 Thecommunity-oriented governance of many land trustscan also help to build political support for solutionsthat require collective action solutions to manageand maintain shared resources or ‘commons’—such as environmental resources and built assetsthat are facing threats from climate change.48

• Giving Voice to the Environment and Future Gener-ations: Land trusts can also help to ensure that theinterests of the environment and future generationsare considered when developing climate solutions.Land trusts are formed with the primary goal ofholding land in trust for the benefit of the publicand future generations.49 Governing boards act astrustees of the land and, as a result, are chargedwith managing and stewarding land and assets inways that will be sustainable over the long term.50

Because environmental stewardship and genera-tional equity are embedded in the DNA of land

45 Davis et al., supra note 38, at 8.46 See Mironova, supra note 41; see also Davis, Common Ground, supra note 44, at 17–22.47 What Is Community Conservation?, LAND TR. ALLIANCE, https://www.landtrustalliance.org/topics/community-conservation/what-community-conservation [https://perma.cc/ECZ4-MNGM] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).48 BARNES, supra note 5, at 85–86.49 Id. at 84–87.50 Id.


trusts, this makes them uniquely suited for givingvoice for two key “stakeholders” that have been leftout of past climate debates—the environment andfuture generations.51

In addition to these common characteristics of land trusts generally, landtrusts are also uniquely situated to support climate action in two keysectors—the built and natural environments.

C. Community Land Trust Roles in Supporting Climate Action inthe Built Environment

Community land trusts are already playing important roles insupporting sustainability and resilience in communities across thecountry.52 This section describes the roles that community land trustscan and are playing and also provides examples of how land trusts fromaround the country are partnering with state and local governments toimplement projects that deliver important environmental, economic, andsocial benefits.

1. Enhancing Community Resilience by Supporting AffordableHousing

Community land trusts are already helping cities address a perva-sive stressor that is undermining community resilience—the lack of safe,quality affordable housing.53 Many communities are experiencing an af-fordable housing crisis, which is having significant consequences for localeconomies and community resilience.54 Residents are spending an increas-ing amount of their budgets on housing, which is crowding out expenditureson other necessities (such as healthcare, education, and transportation).55

51 Id.52 See Hortense Leon, Community Land Trusts in the Age of Climate Change, SHEL-TERFORCE (Feb. 28, 2019), https://shelterforce.org/2019/02/28/community-land-trusts-in-the-age-of-climate-change/ [https://perma.cc/EX7X-D29N].53 See Goh, supra note 27; see also Semuels, supra note 41.54 See 100 RESILIENT CITIES, SAFER AND STRONGER CITIES: STRATEGIES FOR ADVOCATINGFOR FEDERAL RESILIENCE POLICY 40–42 (2018), https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/download?fid=9064&nid=6436 [https://perma.cc/K3JC-F8MS].55 ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUND., 2019 COUNTY HEALTH RANKINGS KEY FINDINGS RE-PORT 2, 6, 15 (2019), https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/reports/2019-county-health-rankings-key-findings-report [https://perma.cc/NKY2-QAP9] (“Severe housing cost burden


In addition, rising housing costs are undermining community resiliencein many areas as key workers—like nurses, teachers, and emergency re-sponders—cannot afford to live in the cities that they serve.56 The chal-lenges of delivering and maintaining affordable housing will only grow ashousing is increasingly affected by climate impacts and as housing costsincrease because of the investments that will be needed to enhance theresilience and sustainability of new developments and existing housingstock.57 For example, significant retrofits will be needed to protect againstincreasing risks from flooding and heat and to electrify and power build-ings with renewable-energy sources, which will increase the costs to buildand maintain housing.58 Community land trusts are already working to

affects health and is linked to barriers to living long and well. Across counties, increasesin the share of households severely cost burdened are associated with more food insecurity,more child poverty, and more people in fair or poor health.”); see also JOINT CTR. FORHOUS. STUDIES OF HARVARD UNIV., THE STATE OF THE NATION’S HOUSING 2019, at 36(2019), https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Harvard_JCHS_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2019.pdf [https://perma.cc/KHK9-AT4D]; Veronica Gaitán, How HousingCan Determine Educational, Health, and Economic Outcomes, HOUSING MATTERS (Sept. 19,2018), https://housingmatters.urban.org/articles/how-housing-can-determine-educational-health-and-economic-outcomes [https://perma.cc/5XCT-NZV4]; Guillermo Ortiz et al., APerfect Storm: Extreme Weather as an Affordable Housing Crisis Multiplier, CTR. FOR AM.PROGRESS (Aug. 1, 2019), https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2019/08/01/473067/a-perfect-storm-2/ [https://perma.cc/6ASW-KCSE] (“Of the country’s 43 millionrenter households in 2016, nearly half—or more than 20 million—spent more than 30percent of their household income on rent; 11 million of these households were severelycost-burdened, spending more than half of their income on rent. There is not a singlecounty, metropolitan area, or state in the country where a full-time worker earning theprevailing minimum wage can afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment.” (citing NAT’LLOW INCOME HOUS. COAL., OUT OF REACH: THE HIGH COST OF HOUSING (2018), https://reports.nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/OOR_2018.pdf [https://perma.cc/2U6E-N44N])).56 See Leon, supra note 52.57 JOINT CTR. FOR HOUS. STUDIES OF HARVARD UNIV., supra note 55, at 36 (noting thathomeowner expenses on disaster-related improvements to housing doubled from $7 bil-lion annually in the 1990s to $14 billion in the 2010s); Allyson Wendt, The Challenge ofExisting Homes: Retrofitting for Dramatic Energy Savings, BUILDING GREEN (July 10,2007), https://www.buildinggreen.com/feature/challenge-existing-homes-retrofitting-dramatic-energy-savings [https://perma.cc/9T86-CTUE]; see also Shelby D. Green, BuildingResilient Communities in the Wake of Climate Change While Keeping Affordable HousingSafe from Sea Changes in Nature and Policy, 54 WASHBURN L.J. 527 (2015).58 While sustainability and resilience improvements to homes may ultimately reduce thetotal cost of housing for residents (considering savings from losses avoided, savings onenergy and water bills, and insurance discounts over the design life of the structure),these improvements add to the initial construction costs of building new homes andretrofits to existing structures can be ever more expensive. See The Future of Resilience& Sustainability, WIRED, https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/06/future-resilience-sus


enhance individual and community resilience in many communities, bybuilding and maintaining safe, affordable housing options for residents.59

In this way, community land trusts help to build the individualresilience of residents. By providing permanently affordable housing, landtrusts help to keep the cost of housing down for homeowners and renters,enabling these individuals to free up resources to pay for other essentials(e.g., healthcare, childcare, transportation, and education).60 Many landtrusts also sell homes under a shared-equity model that provides wealth-building opportunities for homeowners.61 Under this model, any increase

tainability// [https://perma.cc/T8XK-7GQQ] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020) (The AmericanInstitute for Architects estimates that incorporating energy efficiency upgrades to build“passive home[s]” adds approximately 10 percent to the costs of construction); see also FactSheet: Building Higher in Flood Zones: Freeboard—Reduce Your Risk, Reduce Your Pre-mium, FEMA (June 2014), https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1438356606317-d1d037d75640588f45e2168eb9a190ce/FPM_1-pager_Freeboard_Final_06-19-14.pdf [https://perma.cc/NJ8P-HX3J] (FEMA estimates that the cost to enhance the flood resilience of newconstruction by incorporating freeboard (i.e., elevation above minimum standards) isbetween 0.25 to 1.5 percent of total construction costs for each foot of freeboard); but seeKEVIN FINDLAN ET AL., N.Y. UNIV. FURMAN CTR., THE PRICE OF RESILIENCE: CAN MULTIFAM-ILY HOUSING AFFORD TO ADAPT? 15–20 (July 2014), https://furmancenter.org/files/NYUFurmanCenter_ThePriceofResilience_July2014.pdf [https://perma.cc/C6FA-436K] (esti-mating costs of retrofits that could be made to enhance the flood resilience of multifamilystructures (including elevating mechanical and electrical utilities, dry and wet floodproof-ing, conversion of ground floors and cellars to non-residential uses) in flood zones in NewYork City and the potential costs of rising insurance rates if landowners are unable to makeneeded retrofits).59 See Goh, supra note 27; see also Semuels, supra note 41.60 See sources cited supra note 55.61 Shared equity refers to joint ownership of property between the lender and the resi-dent. CLTs are among several shared equity homeownership and rental models, such aslimited-equity cooperatives and mutual housing associations, that preserve affordabilitythrough resale restriction and enable owners to share in the proceeds of sale. CLTs allowresidents to purchase a house on land owned by the CLT, while securing a long-termground lease on the underlying land from the CLT. The ground lease builds in resaleprice restrictions for future income-eligible buyers. Upon resale, CLT homeowners retaina portion of the equity in the building and improvements (usually about 25 percent of theequity gain), while the CLT retains ownership of the land and the accrued value associ-ated with it (usually about 75 percent of the equity gain). See generally JOHN EMMEUS DAVIS,SHARED EQUITY HOMEOWNERSHIP: THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF RESALE-RESTRICTED,OWNER-OCCUPIED HOUSING (2006), http://www.nhi.org/pdf/SharedEquityHome.pdf [https://perma.cc/3LSQ-N848] [hereinafter DAVIS, SHARED EQUITY HOMEOWNERSHIP]; U.S. DEP’TOF HOUS. & URBAN DEV., OFFICE OF POLICY DEV. & RESEARCH, Shared Equity Models OfferSustainable Homeownership, EVIDENCE MATTERS (Fall 2012), https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/fall12/highlight3.html [https://perma.cc/VC3K-NJR6]; John Duda,Community Land Trusts, DEMOCRACY COLLABORATIVE (Mar. 17, 2014), https://democracycollaborative.org/content/infographic-community-land-trusts [https://perma.cc/Q6MN-VEUS].


in the home’s value is shared by the homeowner and the community landtrust, which not only helps to keep the cost of the housing down for futurebuyers, but also allows current owners to build up a “nest egg” of homeequity savings.62 This enables residents to build up some capital while also“paying affordability forward” to the next owner.63 In addition, many com-munity land trusts also provide financial counseling and other supportsthat significantly reduce foreclosure risks for homeowners, providinghousing stability and protecting residents from predatory lenders.64

By providing permanently affordable housing, community landtrusts are also helping to enhance broader community resilience. Com-munity land trusts have been shown to be successful bulwarks againstgentrification because they take land off the speculative market.65 Pre-venting displacement enhances social cohesion, which research has shownis critical to overall community resilience.66 Residents often rely on neigh-bors for childcare or support during emergencies, and when market pres-sures cause displacement of existing residents their social networks andsupport systems are broken, which weakens the overall ability of a com-munity to cope with and withstand impacts from extreme events.67 For

62 DAVIS, SHARED EQUITY HOMEOWNERSHIP, supra note 61; Duda, supra note 61.63 ANELIESE PALMER, STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS4–5 (Mar. 2019), https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/harvard_jchs_palmer_strategies_sustainable_growth_community_land_trusts_2019.pdf [https://perma.cc/F4DH-ZSXF] (citing a 2013 Urban Institute study of three CLTs where homeowners sawa 2 to 39 percent rate of return when they sold shared equity housing under the CLTmodel); Kenneth Temkin et al., Sharing Equity with Future Generations: An Evaluationof Long-Term Affordable Homeownership Programs in the USA, 28 HOUSING STUD. 553,567–69 (2013).64 A 2011 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy study found that CLT homeowners experiencedforeclosure and delinquency at a fraction of the rate of traditional homeowners duringthe subprime mortgage crisis (0.52 percent rate of foreclosure of CLT-owned propertiescompared to 3.3 percent for market rates homes). Survey finds low foreclosure rates incommunity land trusts, LINCOLN INST. LAND POL’Y (Mar. 17, 2009), https://www.lincolninst.edu/news/press-releases/survey-finds-low-foreclosure-rates-community-land-trusts[https://perma.cc/ZP6S-YSPR].65 Myungshik Choi et al., Can community land trusts slow gentrification?, 40 J. URB.AFFAIRS 394, 402 (2018); Davis, Common Ground, supra note 44, at 25–26.66 Joseph Gibbons et al., Do Gentrifying Neighbourhoods Have Less Community? Evidencefrom Philadelphia, 00 URB. STUD. 1, 16, 17–18 (2019) (finding that Black and Hispanicneighborhoods in Philadelphia experiencing White gentrification reported loss of com-munity or social cohesion (defined as trust in neighbors, sense of belonging, and will-ingness to cooperate) and citing other studies that have found similar results).67 Danielle Baussan, Social Cohesion: The Secret Weapon in the Fight for Equitable Cli-mate Resilience, CTR. FOR AM. PROGRESS (May 11, 2015), https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2015/05/11/112873/social-cohesion-the-secret-weapon-in-the-fight-for-equitable-climate-resilience/ [https://perma.cc/2PRC-ZV4S].


example, during the Chicago heat wave in 1995, residents in neighbor-hoods with low social cohesion died at much higher rates than in areaswhere neighbors checked in on each other.68 The way land trusts aregoverned as well as the activities they support in communities bothcontribute to building relationships among neighbors in communities.The tripartite governance model of community land trusts fosters activeengagement among residents and enhances community control of land-use decisions within the neighborhood.69 Additionally, many communityland trusts see part of their role as “place-making.” In addition to sup-porting the development of affordable housing options for residents,many land trusts support community projects to build economic capacitythrough support for local businesses, address community problems (suchas contamination and blight), and provide community assets (such asparks, greenspace, urban gardens, and community centers), as describedin the examples below.70 All of these activities and projects help to bringneighbors together in ways that build social cohesion and enhance com-munity resilience.

One of the first examples of a city-land trust partnership designedto address a range of community challenges, including housing afforda-bility, racial inequality, and blight is the Dudley Street NeighborhoodInitiative (“DSNI”) in Boston, Massachusetts.71 In the 1980s, DSNI createdthe community land trust, Dudley Neighbors, Inc. (“DNI”), to combat blightin the Dudley Triangle neighborhood. The neighborhood, as a result ofdisinvestment, had numerous abandoned properties and became a fre-quent site for dumping and arson.72 The goal of the land trust was to

68 Id.; see also Eric Klinenberg, Heat Waves: A 20-Year Lesson, 100 RESILIENT CITIES (July 13,2015), http://www.100resilientcities.org/heat-waves-a-20-year-lesson/ [https://perma.cc/34VH-KSA3] (stating hundreds of deaths during the 1995 Chicago heat wave were at-tributed to social isolation that undermined the community’s capacity to support its weakestmembers in the face of disaster).69 Davis, Common Ground, supra note 44, at 17–22 (arguing that the classic tripartitegovernance and ground lease models adopted by community land trusts facilitate demo-cratic governance and community empowerment by sharing power with the communityin terms of decision making, building power within the community through educationand community organizing, and wielding power through collective ownership of land).70 Id. at 10, 13.71 See SOLIDARITY ECON. INITIATIVE, SOLIDARITY RISING IN MASSACHUSETTS 23 (Feb. 2017),https://www.solidaritymass.com/greater-boston-community-land-trust [https://perma.cc/K4HV-GUH4].72 Yvonne Abraham, Trust and transformation in a Roxbury neighborhood, BOS. GLOBE(July 24, 2014), https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/07/23/roxbury-neighborhood-once-monument-racism-and-neglect-undergoes-transformation/QcWotBYJZYGoZD3OU4u0lO/story.html [https://perma.cc/A83Y-WY3V].


facilitate redevelopment of the neighborhood without displacing existingresidents and to empower community control over future development.73

DNI acquired thirty acres of land and currently stewards 225units of affordable housing, an urban farm, a greenhouse, a charter school,parks, and a town common on the land.74 DNI’s work in Boston has shownhow land trusts can be powerful partners in helping to enhance communityresilience and it has served as a model for many other cities. First, DNIhas shown how land trusts can enhance community control of develop-ment through their governing boards. The DNI governing board includesrepresentatives that reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the neigh-borhood.75 It has successfully prevented displacement of residents bypreserving low-cost housing options, even as other areas of the City haveexperienced rapid gentrification. Additionally, the urban farms and green-house stewarded by the land trust have helped provide a low-cost sourceof healthy foods and has enhanced food security for residents.76 By

73 Program Focus Areas, DUDLEY STREET NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE, https://www.dsni.org/program-focus-areas [https://perma.cc/3VHQ-GCD9] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).74 History of DNI, DUDLEY NEIGHBORS INC., https://www.dudleyneighbors.org/background.html [https://perma.cc/2F98-4E8S] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020); see also SHARON CHO ETAL., BUILDING A LIVABLE BOSTON: THE CASE FOR COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS 4 (Apr. 2016),https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5515d04fe4b0263cc20b3984/t/57278aa6e321405ebaecaa74/1462209193078/Building+a+Liveable+Boston%2C+The+Case+for+Community+Land+Trusts+April+2016.pdf [https://perma.cc/3LN3-TQ8P].75 DSNI is led by a governing board that is democratically elected by residents and isdesigned to be inclusive and representative of the ethnically and racially diverse neighbor-hood. Board members serve for a two-year term and all Board meetings are open to thepublic. Community members that participate in consecutive meetings earn the right tovote and provide input on DSNI’s activities and projects. The Board is also set up to beinclusive and representative of the diversity of resident voices. Of the thirty-five Boardseats, twenty are reserved for community residents and seats are reserved to representthe diverse demographics and stakeholders in the neighborhood: four seats are reservedfor Black residents, four for Latinx residents, four for residents of Cape Verdean descent,four for White residents, and four for youth residents. The remaining seats include rep-resentatives from community development organizations (two seats), faith-based organi-zations (two seats), partner organizations (seven seats), and local small business (twoseats). Then two additional Board members are selected by the thirty-three Boardmembers according to the bylaws. The Board is charged with approving all decisions forthe organization with community input and participation in decisionmaking. Board ofDirectors, DUDLEY STREET NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE, https://www.dsni.org/board [https://perma.cc/ZCA7-H9D8]; see also Boston, MA—Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, COL-LABORATIVE CITY, https://www.collaborative.city/item/boston-ma-dudley-street-neighborhood-initiative/ [https://perma.cc/JU4D-28N7] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).76 Kaid Benfield, Why Community-Based Planning Works Better Than Anything Else,CITYLAB (Mar. 26, 2012), https://www.citylab.com/design/2012/03/why-community-based-planning-works-better-anything-else/1587/ [https://perma.cc/3NRW-UQJ3]; see also NAT’L


stewarding parks and other greenspaces, the land trust is helping to man-age stormwater, reduce urban heat islands, and increase social bonds inthe neighborhood.77

2. Delivering and Stewarding Green, Resilient AffordableHousing Options

Many community land trusts are also incorporating green designfeatures into their housing projects, which benefits both individual home-owners as well as the broader community. The examples below show howcommunity land trusts in flood-prone areas are building homes that aredesigned to be more resilient to flooding. This not only protects residentsduring flood events, but these features can also reduce insurance costsfor homeowners.78 Similarly, some community land trusts are buildinghomes that incorporate renewable energy, energy efficiency, and weatheri-zation features. These features can protect residents during heat-wavesand reduce energy costs for residents, which reduces the total cost of hous-ing for the homeowner and frees up money for other household expenses.79

By designing and building homes that incorporate resilience and sustain-ability features, community land trusts are also helping local governmentsadvance work to meet adaptation and mitigation goals.

In Greater Seattle and King County, Washington, the HomesteadCommunity Land Trust (“Homestead CLT”) is working to preserve andbuild permanently affordable housing that incorporates green designelements to reduce energy costs for residents and advance the City andCounty’s mitigation goals. The Homestead CLT currently has a portfolioof 211 homes that it stewards for low- and middle-income homeowners.80

To reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the development, the CLT

ACADS. OF SCI., ENG’G, & MED., THE PRIVATE SECTOR AS A CATALYST FOR HEALTH EQUITY ANDA VIBRANT ECONOMY: PROCEEDINGS OF A WORKSHOP 39 (2016), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK384986/pdf/Bookshelf_NBK384986.pdf [https://perma.cc/9YYE-RQ6D].77 Jennifer Fabiano, 4 ways urban green spaces can benefit the environment, YAHOO! NEWS(Apr. 20, 2018), https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/4-ways-urban-green-spaces-can-benefit-the-environment/349863 [https://perma.cc/T98A-GBRA].78 Stephen G. Bushnell, Insurance and Going Green, INS. J. (Nov. 14, 2010), https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-features/2010/11/14/160495.htm [https://perma.cc/K6EG-NJEK].79 Jocelyn Durkay, Energy Efficiency and Renewables in Lower-Income Homes, LEGISBRIEF(Nat’l Conf. for St. Leg., Denver, Colo. & Wash., D.C.), Feb. 2017, at 1–2.80 Our Impact, HOMESTEAD COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://www.homesteadclt.org/our-impact [https://perma.cc/2NET-BW2T] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).


recently broke ground on several projects to build energy efficient, “net-zero” homes with solar panels in transit-accessible areas of King County.81

Similarly, in Irvine, California, the City helped to establish theIrvine Community Land Trust (“Irvine CLT”) to support infill developmentof sustainable, affordable housing. The Irvine CLT develops sustainablehousing to meet the City’s green housing standards and recently com-pleted development of a 2.2-acre LEED Gold certified urban infill site aspart of Irvine’s Inclusionary Zoning Plan.82 One-, two-, and three-bedroomapartments were built using sustainable building methods such as lowenergy-conserving windows, water-saving plumbing fixtures, and LEDlighting throughout the property.83 The project also includes other com-munity amenities including a half acre of open space, a 5,000-square-footcommunity space, and community gardens.84 Additionally, the land trustis building housing to provide services to residents with special needs; forexample, the Doria housing project reserved 10 percent of homes for peoplewith a history of homelessness, including veterans and people with mentalillnesses.85 The City of Irvine, California, took a leadership role in estab-lishing the Irvine CLT and is supporting initial CLT developments ofaffordable housing in the City, which demonstrates how city-CLT part-nerships can foster the implementation of projects that address bothhousing affordability and sustainability goals.86

81 New Homes In Development, HOMESTEAD COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://www.homesteadclt.org/about-homestead/new-homes-in-development [https://perma.cc/T9Y6-FLQC] (lastvisited Mar. 9, 2020); see also Press Release, Homestead Cmty. Land Tr., Homestead Com-munity Land Trust Begins Construction on Zero-Energy Permanently Affordable Homeown-ership in Renton (Nov. 20, 2019), http://www.homesteadclt.org/our-impact/homestead-in-the-media/homestead-community-land-trust-begins-construction-on-zero-energy-permanently-affordable-homeownership-in-renton [https://perma.cc/CLA4-K4E2].82 Parc Derian, IRVINE COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://www.irvineclt.org/properties.php?id=15 [https://perma.cc/2KYH-VQ3Z] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020). Irvine’s inclusionary zoningrules require that developments over fifty units dedicate 15 percent of the units as af-fordable housing, and developments under fifty units can choose from a “menu of options”in lieu of providing affordable housing. The menu allows developers to convert existingmarket rate housing to affordable housing for a period of thirty years, extend existingaffordable housing covenants for a period of at least forty years, pay in-lieu fees, transfercontrol of the units to a non-profit housing agency, dedicate land for affordable housing,among other options. Irvine Cal. Zoning Ordinances ch. 2–3, §§ 2–5 (2019). For a defini-tion of the LEED rating system, see infra note 137.83 IRVINE COMMUNITY LAND TR., supra note 82.84 Id.85 Doria: Award-Winning Workforce, MHSA Housing in Irvine CA, JAMBOREE, https://www.jamboreehousing.com/blogs/affordable-housing-communities/doria [https://perma.cc/FJH3-WE34] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).86 See Stephen R. Miller, Community Land Trusts: Why Now Is the Time to Integrate This


In Monroe County, Florida, the Florida Keys Community LandTrust (“Florida Keys CLT”) is supporting disaster recovery efforts byrebuilding resilient and sustainable workforce housing in communitiesthat experienced significant damage from Hurricane Irma. The FloridaKeys, a 125-mile-long chain of islands off the southern tip of Florida, weredevastated in 2017 by Hurricane Irma.87 Irma made landfall at Cudjoe Keyas a Category 4 hurricane and its sustained winds of 132 mph and eight-foot storm surge damaged or destroyed an estimated 7 percent of homesin the Florida Keys with disproportionate impacts on workforce housingin the communities of Big Pine Key, Middle Torch Key, and Big TorchKey.88 In the aftermath of the storm, the Florida Keys CLT was estab-lished to acquire disaster-affected properties and rebuild resilient work-force housing for middle- and lower-income renters in the Keys. The CLThas acquired almost thirty lots, has completed construction of four homes,has five additional homes in development, and another twenty-two homesplanned.89 The CLT is building energy efficient and resilient two- andthree-bedroom cottages for families earning 80 percent or less of the areamedian income (“AMI”) and earning at least 70 percent of their incomefrom work in Monroe County.90 The cottages are built to withstand 200mph winds and are elevated eleven feet, exceeding flood design standardsrequired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”).91

3. Delivering and Stewarding Other Community Amenities

In addition to housing, many community land trusts are also sup-porting other community uses that deliver important environmental,

Housing Activists’ Tool into Local Government Affordable Housing Policies, 23 J. AFFORD-ABLE HOUSING 349, 363–65 (2015); see also ADAM ELIASON & JOHN TRAUTH, CIVICSTONE,INC., CITY OF IRVINE HOUSING STRATEGY & IMPLEMENTATION PLAN i–iv (Mar. 14, 2006),https://legacy.cityofirvine.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=8842 [https://perma.cc/VUQ5-D69K].87 Hurricane Irma Recovery, MONROE COUNTY, FLA., https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/726/Hurricane-Irma-Recovery [https://perma.cc/KT3P-LHLY] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).88 Id.; see also Background, FLA. KEYS COMMUNITY LAND TR., https://www.affordablekeys.org/ [https://perma.cc/UMK6-PKD3] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).89 Sara Matthis, Affordapalooza 2: Florida Keys Community Land Trust Readies For MoreProjects, KEY WEST WEEKLY, Dec. 5, 2019, at 38; Nicole Javorsky, New Florida Keys CottagesAre Storm-Proof Affordable Housing, CITYLAB (Aug. 27, 2018), https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/08/new-storm-proof-cottages-will-help-house-the-florida-keys-workforce/568210/ [https://perma.cc/JX2G-NZ9K].90 Javorsky, supra note 89; Who We Are, FLA. KEYS COMMUNITY LAND TR., https://www.affordablekeys.org/who-we-are [https://perma.cc/7LYJ-XWHF] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).91 Our Work, FLA. KEYS COMMUNITY LAND TR., https://www.affordablekeys.org/our-work[https://perma.cc/7B5F-7KG2] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).


social, and economic benefits to the community. For example, develop-ments often incorporate parks, open space, and community gardens thatgreen the community and advance community goals, such as improvingpublic health and food security. As described above, these spaces encour-age interaction and build social bonds between neighbors. Parks and greenspace in communities have been shown to provide a range of communitybenefits: parks and community gardens encourage outdoor activities thatimprove public health; green space and trees also provide important envi-ronmental benefits by absorbing rainwater and improving stormwatermanagement, sequestering carbon, reducing air pollution, and reducingurban heat islands; parks have also been shown to provide important so-cioeconomic benefits by reducing crime, increasing property values, andspurring business and private investment.92 By incorporating or steward-ing greenhouses and urban gardens, many community land trusts areproviding residents with a source of affordable and healthy foods. Addi-tionally, many land trusts work to revitalize blighted, vacant, under-utilized, and sometimes contaminated properties,93 which improves localeconomies and eliminates sources of pollution. Governments can expandupon these efforts and leverage partnerships with community land truststo redevelop blighted and vacant parcels with publicly beneficial uses,such as parks, community solar installations, or green infrastructure.

For example, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Sawmill Commu-nity Land Trust (“Sawmill CLT”) redeveloped previously contaminatedindustrial properties to deliver both affordable housing as well as a broadarray of other community amenities, including parks, community gardens,and a community center. The Sawmill CLT was established to supporteconomic redevelopment of the Sawmill-Wells Park neighborhood (be-tween Old Town and downtown Albuquerque), which had become blighteddue to environmental and public health impacts caused by industrialuses in the neighborhood.94 As part of its foundational goals, the SawmillCLT highlighted environmental sustainability and intergenerationalequity as being key drivers of its work in the community.95 The City

92 Why City Parks Matter, CITY PARKS ALLIANCE, https://cityparksalliance.org/about-us/why-city-parks-matter/ [https://perma.cc/7RYN-U7UP] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).93 See generally ROBERT HERSH, CTR. FOR PUB. ENVTL. OVERSIGHT BROWNFIELDS BRIEFS,CLEANING UP BROWNFIELDS THROUGH COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS (Apr. 2007), http://cpeo.org/pubs/CLT.pdf [https://perma.cc/VWQ8-8582].94 History, SAWMILL COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://www.sawmillclt.org/about-us/history/[https://perma.cc/FC66-SDT2] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).95 In articulating its mission and goals, the Sawmill CLT lists goals to: “[h]elp protectexisting residents from the negative impacts of new development; [e]mpower residents


helped to facilitate the transfer of a twenty-seven acre contaminated,former industrial site to the land trust.96 The Sawmill CLT then used aBrownfield cleanup grant97 to remediate the property and develop afford-able housing and other community amenities like parks, community gar-dens, above ground cisterns for rainwater harvesting, and an orchard thatcontribute to community resilience in the neighborhood.98

4. Supporting Green Infrastructure Approaches to ManageStormwater

Land trusts could also play important roles in deploying greeninfrastructure solutions to address increasingly heavy rainfall events,stormwater pollution, and more intense heat waves as a result of climatechange.99 Green infrastructure projects are designed to reduce impervi-ous surfaces and reintegrate natural landscapes to better manage andabsorb rainwater and reduce stormwater runoff.100 In addition to improv-ing water quality, green infrastructure projects can provide numerousother benefits including reducing ambient air temperatures, improving airquality, providing habitats for species, reducing flood risks, and increasingproperty values.101 Green infrastructure projects can also help to reduce

to make informed decisions about their future; [c]reate a built environment that retainsits physical integrity for future generations while preserving the natural attributes andcultural history of the community; [s]upport ecological renewal and energy conservation.”Mission and Goals, SAWMILL COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://www.sawmillclt.org/about-us/mission-and-goals/ [https://perma.cc/DC45-S82W] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).96 HERSH, supra note 93, at 2.97 “Brownfield” is defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) as a site,“the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence orpotential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” Overview ofEPA’s Brownfield Program, EPA, https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/overview-epas-brownfields-program [https://perma.cc/3FLD-EBJG] (last updated Oct. 4, 2019); see also Types ofBrownfields Grant Funding, Cleanup Grants, EPA, https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding [https://perma.cc/7PJB-8WX6] (last updated Mar. 9, 2020).98 Completed Projects, SAWMILL COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://www.sawmillclt.org/about-us/completed-projects/ [https://perma.cc/LC9Y-Y2VB] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).99 “Green infrastructure” is defined in section 502 of the Clean Water Act as “ ‘. . . the rangeof measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable sur-faces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, orevapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters.’ ” Whatis Green Infrastructure?, EPA, https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/what-green-infrastructure [https://perma.cc/9LRW-MYBN] (last updated Dec. 4, 2019).100 Id.101 Green Infrastructure Toolkit: Introduction, GEO. CLIMATE CTR., https://www.george


stormwater fees for residents (reducing the total cost of housing), and insome places, could be used as a way to diversify the land trust’s incomestreams. For example, in Washington, D.C., the District is encouraginggreen infrastructure solutions as a strategy for reducing stormwater run-off through a stormwater credit system.102 In D.C., land trusts can incor-porate green infrastructure that retains stormwater above what is requiredby the District’s stormwater ordinance, and then sell the additional re-tention as a “credit” to other developers.103 By doing so, the land trustwould not only deliver important environmental benefits to residents butwould also generate an income stream that could be used to manage orimprove other properties.

Some land trusts are already supporting green infrastructure ap-proaches for addressing stormwater pollution. For example, the AquidneckLand Trust in Rhode Island has been working through a statewide GreenInfrastructure Coalition of non-profits, government agencies, and busi-nesses to deploy green infrastructure approaches to reduce stormwaterpollution and flood risks on private property.104 The Coalition is workingin urban areas in Providence, Newport, and Aquidneck Island to bring fi-nancial resources and technical assistance to help private and governmentlandowners design and construct green infrastructure projects.105 Theland trust works with other partners to educate residents about opportu-nities to incorporate green infrastructure in homes and gardens—includingrain barrels and rain gardens—and the roles that green infrastructureapproaches can play in protecting the environment and enhancing cli-mate resilience.106

townclimate.org/adaptation/toolkits/green-infrastructure-toolkit/introduction.html[https://perma.cc/D247-ARE7] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).102 Stormwater Retention Credit Trading Program, D.C. DEP’T ENERGY & ENV’T, https://doee.dc.gov/src [https://perma.cc/H97T-BL52] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020); see also WashingtonD.C./District of Columbia Stormwater Ordinance—2013 Rule on Stormwater Manage-ment and Soil Erosion and Sediment Control, ADAPTATION CLEARINGHOUSE, https://www.adaptationclearinghouse.org/resources/washington-d-c-district-of-columbia-stormwater-ordinance-2013-rule-on-stormwater-management-and-soil-erosion-and-sediment-control.html [https://perma.cc/X98M-37VS] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).103 D.C. DEP’T ENERGY & ENV’T, supra note 102.104 Collaborations, AQUIDNECK LAND TR., https://ailt.org/our-work/collaborations/ [https://perma.cc/L9UX-C8W7] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).105 Green Infrastructure Projects in Rhode Island, R.I. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE COALI-TION, http://www.greeninfrastructureri.org/projects.php [https://perma.cc/F6VS-U6UY](last visited Mar. 9, 2020).106 Id.


IV. CONSERVATION LAND TRUST ROLES IN SUPPORTING CLIMATEACTION IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Conservation land trusts are also playing important roles in help-ing to protect, restore, and manage natural landscapes that will be criticalfor both mitigating and adapting to climate change. Conservation landtrusts throughout the country are already supporting climate action bydeveloping renewable energy sources, preserving and protecting habitatsthat are important for carbon sequestration and ecological resilience, de-ploying natural infrastructure approaches for enhancing community resil-ience, and supporting community engagement and collaboration on climateaction. This section describes some of the critical roles conservation landtrusts can play and are playing in helping to steward natural landscapesin the face of climate change, and it provides examples of land trust effortsto advance sustainability and resilience in communities around the country.

A. Supporting Mitigation Efforts

Conservation land trusts are already playing important roles inhelping to steward lands in ways that help to reduce carbon pollution.First, land trusts are preserving and managing natural landscapes that actas carbon sinks to contribute to climate mitigation efforts.107 Addition-ally, many conservation land trusts are also working to integrate renew-able energy (e.g., wind and solar) and community solar installations intotrust lands to provide a clean energy source for neighboring communitiesin ways that do not compromise the environmental values of the land.108

For example, in Marin County, California, the Marin AgriculturalLand Trust (“MALT”) is supporting efforts to sequester carbon in agricul-tural lands through adoption of “carbon farming” practices.109 In 2008, the

107 LAND TR. ALLIANCE, supra note 22; see also Solar Energy Development and Land Con-servation, PA. LAND TR. ASS’N, https://conservationtools.org/guides/182-solar-energy-development-and-land-conservation [https://perma.cc/2Y7L-U8RX] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).108 Community-shared solar allows homeowners or renters who are not able to installrooftop solar to subscribe to a community solar facility that provides them credits on theirmonthly energy bills using a mechanism called “virtual net metering” that bases the creditreceived on the share of the electricity generated. See Community and Shared Solar, OFF.ENERGY EFFICIENCY & RENEWABLE ENERGY, U.S. DEP’T ENERGY, https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/community-and-shared-solar [https://perma.cc/CDQ5-DVCE] (last visitedMar. 9, 2020).109 Carbon Farming, MARIN AGRIC. LAND TR., https://malt.org/carbon-farming/ [https://perma.cc/43G2-5KWK] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020); see also Marina Schauffler, Lookingto the Land to Mitigate Climate Change, LAND TR. ALLIANCE (Spring 2018), https://www


land trust initiated the Marin Carbon Project in partnership with scientists,ranchers, and state and local agencies to develop and adopt agriculturalpractices that would enhance carbon sequestration of soils on rangelands,agricultural lands, and forests.110 MALT assessed carbon levels across itsdifferent landholdings and evaluated how different management practicescould enhance carbon sequestration.111 The data were used to develop aCarbon Farm Plan to encourage farming and land management practicesthat enhanced the resilience and sustainability of farmlands.112 Addition-ally, the research was used by the American Carbon Registry to certifya protocol that enables farmers and ranchers to earn carbon offset creditswhen they implement more sustainable land management practices.113

In Brunswick, Maine, the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust helpedto install a community solar project on its 321-acre Crystal Spring Farmpreserve.114 The preserve supports a working dairy farm and also protectsimportant habitats, water supply for the region, and the quality of watersdraining into the Maquoit Bay.115 On the property, the land trust supportsa broad array of uses that enhance community cohesion and resilience.A community solar project was installed in 2016, delivering 78.65 kilowattsof energy to generate electricity for the farm and other residents ofBrunswick.116 The land trust also hosts a farmers market, community-supported agriculture program, and community gardens to provide locallysourced healthy food products for residents.117 The preserve also includestrails and a labyrinth to provide recreational opportunities for residentsto enjoy the different habitats protected on the site—including forests,creeks, and vernal ponds.118

.landtrustalliance.org/news/looking-land-mitigate-climate-change [https://perma.cc/PAW3-KJYK].110 Cypress Lane Ranch, 26 MARIN AGRIC. LAND TR. 1, 1–2 (2010); see News & Events, MARINCARBON PROJECT, https://www.marincarbonproject.org/news [https://perma.cc/5PHN-5WFV](last visited Mar. 9, 2020).111 Case Studies: Marin Agricultural Land Trust—Enhancing Carbon Sequestration, CON-SERVATION CHANGING CLIMATE, https://climatechange.lta.org/case-study/marin-sequestration/ [https://perma.cc/FH9S-5WKM] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).112 Id.113 Id.114 Crystal Spring Farm, BRUNSWICK-TOPSHAM LANDTRUST, https://www.btlt.org/conserved-lands/brunswick-freeport-conservation-corridor/crystal-spring-farm/ [https://perma.cc/M2ZE-CGMA] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).115 Id.116 Crystal Spring Farm Community Solar Project, BRUNSWICK-TOPSHAM LANDTRUST,https://www.btlt.org/csf-solar/ [https://perma.cc/2AWC-NT44] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).117 Crystal Spring Farm, BRUNSWICK-TOPSHAM LANDTRUST, supra note 114.118 Id.


B. Protecting Resilient Natural Landscapes

To protect wildlife and biodiversity, large networks of diverse andinterconnected habitats will be required to enable species to adapt to achanging climate by migrating north or to higher ground.119 Some conser-vation land trusts have started to assess the vulnerability of different land-scapes and ecosystems in their service areas and have developed acquisitionand management plans to support the conservation of important habitatsand migration corridors to ensure that ecosystems and species can adaptto changing environmental conditions as a result of climate change.120

For example, in the North Quabbin region of Massachusetts, landtrusts and other conservation organizations worked together through aregional conservation partnership to identify priority actions for enhancingthe climate resilience of 560,000 acres of ecologically important habitatsin the region.121 North Quabbin is a predominantly rural region of NorthCentral Massachusetts characterized by farmland, forests, and wetlands,which provide habitat to a variety of species including moose, bobcat, andbear.122 In 2013, land trusts and other conservation organizations in theregion worked with The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”) to develop a Geo-graphic Information System (“GIS”) that compiled climate, biological, land-scape, and landownership data to inform the development of a conservationplan for the region that incorporated considerations of climate resilience.123

The GIS mapping tool helped the organizations in the partnership iden-tify priority areas for acquisition with the goal of preserving and protectinga broad array of topographically complex and ecologically important land-scapes that can provide habitats to wildlife in the region threatened byclimate change.124 The partnership used the GIS maps to obtain state

119 OPEN SPACE INST. & N. ATL. LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION COOP., supra note 26, at 14–15;see also Resilient Landscapes Funds (Completed), OPEN SPACE INST., https://www.openspaceinstitute.org/funds/resilient-landscapes-funds [https://perma.cc/HD8E-CJQF] (lastvisited Mar. 9, 2020).120 OPEN SPACE INST., supra note 119.121 OPEN SPACE INST. & N. ATL. LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION COOP., supra note 26, at 82.The U.S. Department of Agriculture supports coordination of conservation activities throughthe Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Regional Conservation Partnerships Pro-gram, NAT. RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERV., USDA, https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/rcpp/ [https://perma.cc/2N5V-DCB7] (last visitedMar. 9, 2020).122 OPEN SPACE INST. & N. ATL. LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION COOP., supra note 26, at 82.123 Strategic Biodiversity Map, NORTH QUABBIN REGIONAL LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP, https://northquabbinrlp.wixsite.com/northquabbinrlp/strategic-biodiversity-map [https://perma.cc/A3GK-2FT6] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).124 OPEN SPACE INST. & N. ATL. LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION COOP., supra note 26, at 9.


grants and to pursue acquisitions of important areas for the region’s resili-ence. For example, the partnership received a $1.285 million grant fromthe Massachusetts Landscape Partnership Program to acquire conservationeasements for six properties totaling 1,380 acres, and the East QuabbinLand Trust engaged a landowner who agreed to protect his land, which wasshown to be a “resilience zone” by the mapping products developed throughthe partnership.125

C. Supporting Managed Retreat and Nature-Based CommunityResilience Efforts

Conservation land trusts are also increasingly playing roles inadvancing nature-based approaches for building broader community re-silience. By supporting acquisitions, preservation, and restoration efforts,land trusts are advancing natural infrastructure solutions for protectingcommunities from flooding,126 droughts, and other climate impacts.127

Many land trusts are also supporting state and local disaster recoveryefforts by facilitating buyouts of structures in flood-prone areas to helpresidents relocate out of harm’s way and to restore natural flood-plains.

For example, in Monterey County, California, the Big Sur LandTrust is leading implementation of the Carmel River Floodplain Restora-tion and Environmental Enhancement (“Carmel FREE”) project that willrestore habitat and reduce flood risks in the lower Carmel River water-shed.128 The project will use nature-based approaches to reduce flood

125 Climate science for the rest of us, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERV. NORTHEAST REGION,https://usfwsnortheast.wordpress.com/2016/10/25/climate-science-for-the-rest-of-us/[https://perma.cc/FJJ9-FMPM] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).126 See NAT’L AUDUBON SOC’Y, NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT: HOW NATURAL INFRA-STRUCTURE CAN SHAPE A MORE RESILIENT COAST FOR BIRDS AND FOR PEOPLE (Jan. 2018),https://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/audubon_infrastructure_jan192018.pdf[https://perma.cc/YP5A-6DJH].127 For examples of the work land trusts do to protect “resilient landscapes,” see OPENSPACE INST., supra note 119.128 Carmel River Floodplain Restoration and Environmental Enhancement Project (CarmelRiver FREE), BIG SUR LAND TR., https://bigsurlandtrust.org/carmel-river-free/ [https://perma.cc/6CGJ-ZE3D] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020); Carmel River FREE Project Overview Slides,BIG SUR LAND TR., https://secureservercdn.net/166.62.115.136/8k6.cba.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Web-overview-FINAL-Slideshow-for-CR-FREE-WEb-page-10.1.pdf [https://perma.cc/PYL5-UB3Q] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020); see also Carmel RiverFloodplain Restoration And Environmental Enhancement Project (CRFREE), COUNTYMONTEREY, RESOURCE MGMT. AGENCY, https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-i-z/resource-management-agency-rma-/planning/current-major-projects/carmel-river-free [https://perma.cc/7RZV-236P] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).


risks to nearby properties by restoring the natural river corridor.129 Oldlevees in need of maintenance along the river will be removed to allow res-toration of the natural flood-plain, which will improve water quality, habi-tats, and groundwater recharge.130 A new causeway bridge for Highway1 will be built to restore hydrological connectivity and facilitate restorationof wetlands on the project site that are adjacent to the Carmel Lagoon.131

Additionally, new trails will be constructed throughout the project site tocreate recreational amenities for residents.132 These activities are antici-pated to restore approximately 100 acres of wetlands and other habitatsdelivering environmental benefits and also enhancing resilience to sea-level rise and more frequent storms for businesses and residents in theCarmel Valley.133 This project demonstrates how public-private partner-ships with land trusts can be used to facilitate land acquisitions andecosystem-based restoration projects to enhance community resilience.

The Louisiana Land Trust (“LLT”) is supporting disaster recoveryefforts in the state by acquiring flood-prone properties, preventing newdevelopment in flood-plains, and facilitating resettlement of communitiesrepetitively affected by flooding to safer inland locations. The LLT wasoriginally established by the state to support flood-plain buyouts after Hur-ricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, through the state’s Road Home Pro-gram.134 Since 2005, LLT has expanded its role to support buyouts andresettlement of communities to address more recent storm events, includ-ing a heavy rainfall event in 2016 that caused widespread flood impactsthroughout the state.135 In this expanded role, LLT has been supportingambitious state efforts to help whole communities relocate away fromflood-prone areas that are vulnerable to sea-level rise and land loss. Forexample, through the Pecan Acres Resettlement project, LLT is supporting

129 See COUNTY MONTEREY, RESOURCE MGMT. AGENCY, supra note 128.130 Id.131 Id.132 Id.133 Carmel River FREE Project Overview Slides, BIG SUR LAND TR., supra note 128.134 LLT was created by the Louisiana Road Home Corporation Act, Senate Bill 445 (June 29,2006), which created a non-profit corporation to “ ‘finance, own, lease as lessee or lessor, sell,exchange, donate or otherwise hold or transfer a property interest in housing stock dam-aged by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita.’ ” LA. LAND TR., https://www.lalandtrust.us/ [https://perma.cc/AE2E-MNEB] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020). The LLT has powers to holdand dispose of land, to take in funds from any source, to borrow against properties thatit holds, and to enter into agreements to implement its mission. Id.135 See August 2016 Record Flooding, NAT’L WEATHER SERV., NAT’L OCEANIC & ATMOS-PHERIC ADMIN., https://www.weather.gov/lix/August2016flood [https://perma.cc/9N28-KRZ5](last visited Mar. 9, 2020).


the construction of a new community to help residents of Pointe CoupeeParish move out of harm’s way. The Pecan Acres subdivision is a lower-income neighborhood just north of the City of New Roads, which experi-enced significant flooding in 2016 and has suffered repetitive flood damageseventeen times since the 1970s, earning the neighborhood the nickname“Flood City.”136 LLT is trying to facilitate the resettlement of thirty toforty households in Pecan Acres by acquiring flood-prone properties andsupporting the development of new housing that incorporates resilientand green design features (elevation above FEMA minimum standards,LEED certified construction,137 and green infrastructure to reduce storm-water flooding) and other community amenities (playgrounds, outdoorrecreation, and walkability).138

D. Providing Technical Assistance and Support for Climate Action

Conservation land trusts are also working with local partners toprovide technical assistance, funding, and other support to help govern-ments work together at the regional scale, understand climate risks, anddevelop regional climate solutions. In this way, land trusts are providingscientific expertise, bringing other partners to the table, facilitating conver-sations with residents and businesses about climate change and climaterisks, and bringing additional financial resources to support work on cli-mate change.

136 Daniel Cusick, 40 homes and 17 floods. Now the neighborhood is moving, E&E NEWS(May 29, 2019), https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060418681 [https://perma.cc/PPL9-BP3P];Terry L. Jones, Leaving 'Flood City:' Pecan Acres residents prepare for move to New Roadssubdivision thanks to home buyouts, ADVOCATE (Dec. 24, 2017), https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/communities/westside/article_71b051bc-e4e8-11e7-8d89-abd5600fb9c7.html [https://perma.cc/3SCM-HN2L].137 The LEED Green Building Certification program is administered by the U.S. GreenBuilding Council (“USGBC”). Green Building 101: What is LEED?, USGBC (Sept. 14,2017), https://www.usgbc.org/articles/green-building-101-what-leed [https://perma.cc/947S-2W99]. Buildings earn credits for water savings, energy efficiency, sustainable materials,waste reduction, indoor environmental quality, and other factors. Id.138 See LA. LAND TR., REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION STATEMENTS PACKAGE ENGINEERING DE-SIGN AND RELATED SERVICES FOR THE PECAN ACRES SUSTAINABLE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAMPOINTE COUPEE PARISH 3–4, https://www.lalandtrust.us/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=45:llt-rfq-for-pecan-acres-resettlement-program&download=230:llt-rfq-for-pecan-acres-resettlement-program&Itemid=2 [https://perma.cc/6JYN-VP9J].However the resettlement efforts have faced significant obstacles, including challengesfinding a site that would take in the predominantly Black residents of the Pecan Acressubdivision. Terry L. Jones, Black community in flood-prone New Roads area feels pushbackfrom white neighborhood over relocation site, ADVOCATE (Aug. 5, 2018), https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_ee6b7b88-95db-11e8-a52e-cb57c9ecb7d0.html[https://perma.cc/LH3V-V5B9].


For example, the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (“ESLC”) hasbeen an active partner helping rural communities on the Eastern Shore ofMaryland prepare for impacts from sea-level rise and more intense rainfallevents. The low-lying Eastern Shore of Maryland along the ChesapeakeBay is considered one of the regions of the country that faces the greatestthreats of sea-level rise.139 The region also supports wetlands and otherecosystems that are ecologically important for the health and resilienceof the Chesapeake Bay, which faces threats from sea-level rise, acidifica-tion, pollution, and increasing water temperatures.140 Eastern Shore com-munities are predominantly rural, and the local economy is driven byagriculture, fishing, and tourism.141 ESLC is supporting adaptation on theEastern Shore through strategic land conservation and acquisitions toconserve natural buffers that protect development and agriculture fromsea-level rise and increasing flood risks. Through the Delmarva Oasisproject, ESLC is partnering with other conservation organizations on theDelmarva Peninsula142 to preserve important ecosystems and migrationcorridors to protect biodiversity, habitats, and agriculturally productivefarmlands to enhance both environmental and economic resilience as wellas food security for the region. ESLC also supports “place-making” projectsthat deliver important social and recreational benefits to Eastern Shorecommunities, including projects to create parks, urban gardens, and otherrecreational amenities.143 Finally, ESLC is providing important technicalassistance to Eastern Shore communities through the Eastern ShoreClimate Adaptation Partnership (“ESCAP”). Through ESCAP, six EasternShore counties and three municipalities collaborate regionally on sea-levelrise adaptation efforts.144 ESLC facilitates regional collaboration and has

139 BRIAN AMBRETTE, E. SHORE LAND CONSERVANCY, PRIORITIZING LOCAL CLIMATE ADAP-TATION THROUGH REGIONAL COLLABORATION ON MARYLAND’S EASTERN SHORE 1, 11, 25(July 2017), https://www.eslc.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/coastal-resilience/escap-white-paper-2017.pdf [https://perma.cc/N5RQ-7Q4B] [hereinafter AMBRETTE, PRIORITIZING LOCALCLIMATE ADAPTATION].140 What Climate Change Means for Maryland, EPA (Aug. 2016), https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-md.pdf[https://perma.cc/Y4JM-RBNM].141 AMBRETTE, PRIORITIZING LOCAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION, supra note 139, at 4.142 ESLC aims to protect half of the Delmarva Peninsula, ELSC NEWS (July 27, 2018),https://www.eslc.org/eslc-aims-to-protect-half-of-delmarva-peninsula/ [https://perma.cc/5QRA-G6RX].143 Thriving Towns: Protecting Quality of Life for All, E. SHORE LAND CONSERVANCY, https://www.eslc.org/towns/ [https://perma.cc/BTR2-KAPB] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).144 ESCAP includes participation of local agency representatives from Dorchester, Talbot,Queen Anne’s, Cecil, Kent, and Caroline counties and the towns of Oxford, Cambridge,and St. Michaels. See AMBRETTE, PRIORITIZING LOCAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION, supra note


helped to bring financial and technical assistance to the region to supportthe development of a vulnerability assessment and legal and policy guid-ance to help Eastern Shore communities adapt to future sea-level rise andincreasing flood risks.145 One way that Eastern Shore communities areworking to enhance flood resilience through ESCAP is by exploring regionalopportunities to participate in the Community Rating System (“CRS”),a subprogram of the National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) thatoffers lowered flood insurance rates in communities that adopt betterflood-plain management practices.146 Regional collaboration has also helpedEastern Shore communities advance important adaptation initiatives atthe local level. For example, Dorchester and Queen Anne’s counties bothused sea-level rise analyses supported through ESCAP to update theirlocal hazard mitigation plans, and Cecil County used climate informationto inform the development of a green infrastructure plan to address sea-level rise and increasingly heavy rainfall events.147 Through these initia-tives, ESLC is helping Eastern Shore communities build their technicalcapacity to respond to threats from sea-level rise and climate change.

E. Policy Options for Scaling Up Land Trust Roles in Climate Action

Although land trusts are providing important benefits in commu-nities across the United States, their current impact is limited by the smallamounts of land held in trust148 and their lack of financial resources and

139, at 4; E-mail from James Bass, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, to author (Jan. 9,2020) (on file with author).145 JAMES BASS ET AL., E. SHORE LAND CONSERVANCY, MAINSTREAMING SEA LEVEL RISEPREPAREDNESS IN LOCAL PLANNING AND POLICY ON MARYLAND’S EASTERN SHORE 1–5,15–18 (Jan. 2019), https://www.eslc.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/coastal-resilience/regional-sea-level-rise-study-2019.pdf [https://perma.cc/P9KJ-6XJU].146 Id. at 18.147 DORCHESTER CTY. EMERGENCY MGMT. AGENCY, DORCHESTER COUNTY 2017 HAZARDMITIGATION PLAN UPDATE i, https://www.dorchestercountymd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Public-Copy-2017-Dorchester-County-Hazards-Mitigation-Pllan-1-11-18.pdf[https://perma.cc/L87Z-MTPE]; QUEEN ANNE’S CTY. DEP’T OF EMERGENCY SERVS., MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 8-19, 8-23 (Dec. 2018), https://www.qac.org/DocumentCenter/View/11693/2018-QAC-Hazard-Mitigation-Plan [https://perma.cc/9TC2-7JCS]; CECIL CTY. DEP’T OF LAND USE & DEV. SERVS., CECIL COUNTY GREEN INFRASTRUC-TURE PLAN 1–2 (June 2019), http://www.ccgov.org/home/showdocument?id=34792 [https://perma.cc/2VFE-HKDA].148 As of 2015, 56 million acres were held in trust by conservation land trusts (of a total2.3 billion acres or 2.4 percent of total acreage in the United States). LAND TR. ALL., 2015NATIONAL LAND TRUST CENSUS REPORT: OUR COMMON GROUND AND COLLECTIVE IMPACT3 (2015), http://s3.amazonaws.com/landtrustalliance.org/2015NationalLandTrustCensusReport.pdf [https://perma.cc/7VJQ-L8N2]; Daniel Bigelow, A Primer on Land in the United


technical capacity to incorporate climate resiliency and sustainability intoland trust initiatives. To realize the full potential of land trusts as partnersin addressing climate change and other environmental and socioeconomicchallenges affecting communities across the United States, the work ofland trusts needs to be scaled up significantly. To do so, state and localgovernments could adopt laws and policies to support and foster importantland trust work in communities. This section discusses policy changes thatcould be adopted at the state and local levels to catalyze land trust work onclimate resilience and sustainability initiatives. It also provides examplesof laws and policies that could serve as models for other communities—including policies governing the disposition of land, access to funding andfinancing, tax and other incentives, and technical assistance programs.

1. Access to Land

The first and most important way that governments can supportland trusts is by putting their most important asset—land—into uses thatbenefit the public and future generations. Land is the most valuable re-source that governments have to address the social, economic, and envi-ronmental challenges facing communities.149 And while governments oftenadopt goals for promoting equity, affordable housing, environmental pro-tection, sustainability, and resilience, these governments at the same timeare selling off the land, which is their most important asset for addressingthese challenges. Rather than sell land to the highest bidder, governmentsshould seek to put public lands to use for the public benefit throughpartnerships with land trusts.

As non-profit organizations with the foundational mission ofstewarding lands for the benefit of the public, land trusts are uniquelysuited for helping governments put public lands to use to meet communitysustainability and resilience goals. Land trusts around the country havehelped to revitalize blighted, vacant, and under-utilized properties and

States, ECON. RESEARCH SERV., USDA (Dec. 4, 2017), https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2017/december/a-primer-on-land-use-in-the-united-states/ [https://perma.cc/Z2S7-DH5T]. And while there are approximately 224 community land trusts and interest incommunity ownership of housing is growing in the United States, in a study of land trustsin Cascadia (including the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and the province ofBritish Columbia) only 0.03 percent of housing stock in this region was held in trust bycommunity land trusts. Nisma Gabobe, The Role of Community Land Trusts in Cascadia’sQuest for Affordable Housing, SIGHTLINE INST. (Sept. 25, 2019), https://www.sightline.org/2019/09/25/the-role-of-community-land-trusts-in-cascadias-quest-for-affordable-housing/[https://perma.cc/5QWA-T36G].149 See generally Davis, Common Ground, supra note 44.


have implemented projects that are delivering important public benefits.As demonstrated above, conservation and community land trusts arealready helping governments build sustainable, resilient, and affordablehousing; create parks and greenspace that enhance social cohesion; gener-ate renewable energy to reduce the carbon footprint of communities;steward urban gardens that increase food security; restore natural floodbuffers that protect communities from sea-level rise and coastal storms;and preserve as well as enhance the resilience of important ecosystemsand habitats, among other roles.150 By providing land trusts with low-costand donated lands, governments can help to scale up and expand uponthese important initiatives.

One way to do so is to adopt land disposition policies that prioritizecommunity-led initiatives and projects that deliver permanent communitybenefits. For example, state and local governments can:

• Adopt policies to offer surplus, under-utilized, or tax-foreclosed lands at below-market rates to organiza-tions, such as land trusts, that will deliver projectsthat provide important public benefits;

• Provide regulatory incentives, such as inclusionaryzoning incentives,151 that encourage partnershipwith land trusts; and

• Use criteria in bidding processes for the redevelop-ment of publicly owned land that prioritizecommunity-ownership models and projects thatdeliver permanent community benefits, includingenvironmental, economic, and social benefits.152

Some jurisdictions have already taken steps to facilitate the transfer oflands to ensure that lands are put to use in ways that will benefit thepublic, which may be instructive for other communities grappling withsimilar sustainability and resilience challenges.

In the built environment, several cities have adopted laws andpolicies to facilitate the transfer of land for affordable housing and otheruses that benefit the public. The City of Boston granted Dudley Neighbors,Inc., the power of eminent domain to enable the land trust to acquirevacant and blighted parcels for redevelopment as affordable housing and

150 See infra Part III, Sections IV.A–IV.D.151 For a discussion of inclusionary zoning, see supra note 82.152 See Davis et al., supra note 38, at 16–18.


other community uses, such as urban farms and community centers.153 InSeattle, Homestead CLT has also benefitted from significant support fromboth the County and local governments in the region through donationsand below market sales of surplus lands.154 The City of Seattle adopted alaw allowing the city to donate or sell surplus lands at below-market ratesto facilitate the development of permanently affordable housing.155 To faci-litate community access to surplus lands, Seattle developed an “Enter-prise Map” of surplus and under-utilized city-owned properties to showpotential sites for affordable housing.156 The City is also working with KingCounty and neighboring jurisdictions to promote similar policies and aregional approach to addressing the housing affordability crisis.157 Simi-larly, the Seattle Regional Transit Authority has a policy requiring theagency to provide 80 percent of its surplus property to affordable housingdevelopments.158 By reducing or eliminating the cost of land, public agen-cies can help to reduce the total cost to develop affordable housing and openup opportunities for community land trusts to be able to acquire and de-velop affordable, sustainable housing options for lower-income residents.

Additionally, many states have adopted enabling legislation to au-thorize the creation of land banks to facilitate the conversion of vacant andunder-utilized private parcels to productive uses.159 Land banks help cities

153 DNI was granted eminent domain authority from the Boston Redevelopment Author-ity as an urban redevelopment corporation authorized pursuant to MASS. GEN. LAWS ANN.ch. 121A, § 11 (West 2019); see also Community-led Use of Eminent Domain, LOY. UNIV.CTR. FOR URBAN RESEARCH & LEARNING, https://www.luc.edu/eminent-domain/siteessays/bostonma/community-leduseofeminentdomain/ [https://perma.cc/2GQL-Y74G] (last visitedMar. 9, 2020).154 See FAQs About CLTs, HOMESTEAD COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://www.homesteadclt.org/support-our-work/faqs-about-clts [https://perma.cc/C3EK-A5DW] (last visited Mar. 9,2020). See generally About Homestead, HOMESTEAD CMTY. LAND TR., http://www.homesteadclt.org/about-homestead [https://perma.cc/BUU5-VBB7] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).155 Building More Affordable Housing Using Surplus Public Land, SEATTLE CITY COUN-CIL, https://www.seattle.gov/council/issues/past-issues/land-disposition-policy [https://perma.cc/2A74-ZFYD] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).156 Id.157 Id.158 Board adopts policy promoting equitable development near transit stations and facilities,SOUNDTRANSIT (Apr. 26, 2018), https://www.soundtransit.org/get-to-know-us/news-events/news-releases/board-adopts-policy-promoting-equitable-development-near [https://perma.cc/EGG2-ETB9].159 See John Emmeus Davis, The Untapped Potential of Land Bank/Land Trust Part-nerships, SHELTERFORCE (Oct. 31, 2012), https://shelterforce.org/2012/10/31/the_untapped_potential_of_land_bank_land_trust_partnerships/ [https://perma.cc/P9V7-94XJ] [hereinafterDavis, Untapped Potential].


clear title to and facilitate the transfer of ownership of vacant and aban-doned privately owned properties to promote community revitalization ef-forts.160 And several jurisdictions are looking at ways that land banks couldbe used to convert under-utilized land to publicly beneficial projects thatwill address affordable housing, sustainability, and resilience goals.161 Forexample, in 2016, the New York City Comptroller conducted an audit andfound that the City owned almost 1,500 vacant or under-utilized propertiesand had almost 250 tax-delinquent properties that could be developed tomeet the City’s goals of delivering affordable housing options for lower-income residents.162 The Comptroller issued a report recommending thatthe City establish a land bank that could facilitate the conversion of tax-de-linquent and vacant lands to productive use, such as affordable housing.163

Other cities could consider similar policies to prioritize dispositionof surplus lands to community-led organizations that can deliver projectsthat advance the jurisdiction’s sustainability, resilience, and affordablehousing goals. For example, greater flexibility could be offered to allowthe transfer of surplus lands to support affordable housing and other pub-licly beneficial uses, such as community solar, green and natural infra-structure, urban gardens, parks and green space, natural flood buffers,conservation areas, among other community uses. And preference could begiven to uses supported by community-led organizations and land truststhat not only steward land for public uses, but also give residents a voice indecision making and deliver important social cohesion benefits that maynot be offered by other potential partners, such as non-profit developers.

2. Funding, Financing, and Tax Incentives

State and local governments have also set up programs to providefunding and financing to provide start up capital for land trusts to sup-port initial land acquisitions and the design and construction of publiclybeneficial projects that promote sustainability and resilience initiatives.

For example, in 2006, the District of Columbia created a communityland trust pilot program to generate and preserve workforce housing,

160 FRANK S. ALEXANDER, CTR. FOR CMTY. PROGRESS, LAND BANKS AND LAND BANKING21–23 (2015), https://community-wealth.org/sites/clone.community-wealth.org/files/downloads/report-alexander15.pdf [https://perma.cc/98ML-9YX7].161 See Davis, Untapped Potential, supra note 159.162 OFFICE OF THE N.Y.C. COMPTROLLER, BUILDING AN AFFORDABLE FUTURE: THE PROMISEOF A NEW YORK CITY LAND BANK 4 (Feb. 2016), https://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/documents/The_Case_for_A_New_York_City_Land_Bank.pdf [https://perma.cc/TRD3-SEB2].163 See generally id.


which has helped spur the development of other land trusts in the Dis-trict to address gentrification and displacement. The legislation called forthe District to issue a Request for Proposals for an organization that couldestablish a community land trust and deliver 1,000 units of permanentlyaffordable workforce housing.164 The District provided start-up fundingto establish the CLT and to leverage tax credits to support the develop-ment of affordable housing.165 The District also adopted tax legislation toadjust property taxation for CLT-owned properties subject to resale re-strictions. Ensuring fairness for owners that do not receive full equity atresale, D.C.’s tax code provides that taxes should be assessed based uponthe amount initially paid for the property and adjusted for inflation.166 CityFirst Homes was selected to be the District’s pilot land trust and helpedimplement affordable workforce housing throughout the District.167 CityFirst Homes also helped to incubate the Douglass Community Land Trust(“Douglass CLT,” named after Frederick Douglass). The Douglass CLTlaunched in Southeast D.C. in response to recommendations included ina community-led planning process initiated to address potential displace-ment concerns due to redevelopment of the 11th Street Bridge into a citypark (similar to the High-Line Park in New York City).168 Based uponrecommendations included in the 11th Street Bridge Park’s Equitable De-velopment Plan, the Douglass CLT was established to develop and preservepermanent affordable housing in Southeast D.C., an area of the Districtthat is experiencing redevelopment and gentrification pressures.169 TheDouglass CLT’s foundational goals include preventing displacement andpreserving the right of residents to “stay and thrive,” empowering com-munity control and decision making, providing quality affordable housing,and using sustainable building practices that benefit residents, the com-munity, and the environment.170 The District’s program demonstrateshow a pilot initiative and start-up funding can be used to catalyze landtrust work in communities.

164 D.C. Code Ann. § 6-1061.02(c) (West 2012).165 Davis et al., supra note 38, at 21.166 See D.C. Code Ann. § 47-820.02 (West 2015).167 See D.C. Code Ann. § 6-1061.02(m) (West 2012).168 See 11TH STREET BRIDGE PARK, 11TH STREET BRIDGE PARK’S EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENTPLAN 4–6, 15 (2018), https://bbardc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Equitable-Development-Plan_09.04.18.pdf [https://perma.cc/HEJ2-PAKS].169 Our Mission, DOUGLASS COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://douglassclt.org/#Mission [https://perma.cc/7HVG-SE9L] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).170 Our Values, DOUGLASS COMMUNITY LAND TR., http://douglassclt.org/#Values [https://perma.cc/PY5Y-6C98] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).


Cities are also using other innovative ways to help land trusts ac-quire land at lower costs and to compete with developers on the privatemarket. For example, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the City established aninterest-free deferred loan program where community land trusts are eli-gible for loan forgiveness so long as they are meeting the City’s perfor-mance standards.171 And in San Francisco, California, the City is providingfinancial support through its Small Site Program, which helps land trustscompete with developers to acquire properties in neighborhoods at thehighest risk for gentrification.172 The program provides loans to non-profitorganizations to help them purchase buildings to avoid conversion tomarket-rate housing and to prevent displacement of existing tenants.173

The program offers some renovation assistance to ensure the buildingmeets health and safety standards, and requires that the building bepermanently converted to affordable housing.174

The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston attributesits success partly to the support the land trust received from public part-ners. In addition to granting the land trust eminent domain authority,the land trust has received significant financial resources from the Cityand the State of Massachusetts that were used to support the develop-ment of housing and other community amenities.175 DSNI gets a third ofits current annual budget from government sources and the rest from cor-porate and foundation grants, events, individual donations, and earnedincome.176 Additionally, DSNI benefits from state-level Community Invest-ment Tax Credits, which provide a 50 percent tax credit to create incentivesfor private and corporate donors to give to “high-impact, community-ledeconomic development initiatives,” including land trusts like DSNI.177

171 CHO ET AL., supra note 74, at 10.172 BEN BALDWIN ET AL., TUFTS UNIV. URBAN & ENVTL. POLICY & PLANNING, DEVELOPMENTWITHOUT DISPLACEMENT: THE CASE FOR COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS 32 (2015), http://www.berkshirecommunitylandtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/TUFTS-CommunityLandTrust.pdf [https://perma.cc/4V7D-E5N2] (citing Adizah Eghan, Mission Tenants AvoidEviction and Gain a Long-Term Home, KQED NEWS (Feb. 18, 2015), http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/02/18/mission-tenants-avoid-eviction-and-gain-a-long-term-home [https://perma.cc/8VDV-UCCP]); Small Sites Program, S.F. MAYOR’S OFF. HOUSING & COMMUNITYDEV., https://sfmohcd.org/small-sites-tenants [https://perma.cc/L6BU-Y5H2] (last visitedMar. 9, 2020).173 S.F. MAYOR’S OFF. HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEV., supra note 172.174 Id.175 Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, COMMUNITY-WEALTH.ORG, https://community-wealth.org/content/dudley-street-neighborhood-initiative [https://perma.cc/D2ET-KC77](last visited Mar. 9, 2020).176 See text & sources cited supra note 75.177 See text & sources cited supra note 75; see also Support community control and reduce


California recently passed legislation—S.B. 196—to foster landtrust roles in helping the state address its affordable housing crisis. Thelaw adjusts property taxation to tax CLT properties at the affordable salevalue rather than the market value to account for resale restrictions andto make CLT-owned projects more cost effective.178

In South Carolina, the legislature has proposed a Resilience Revolv-ing Fund that would facilitate flood-plain buyouts and restoration projects,and specifically contemplates “land trusts” as eligible fund recipients.179

The program is being designed to provide grants and low-interest loans tosupport flood resilience initiatives at the local level.180 The program wouldbe capitalized with “seed funding” from the state that could serve as thematch for federal flood mitigation and disaster recovery programs.181 Theprogram also provides various incentives to ensure that funding recipientsare applying the best practices for implementing flood-plain buyouts. First,the program prioritizes buyouts that involve blocks or groups of homes andmultifamily homes rather than individual properties to ensure that boughtout lands provide sufficient acreage to support restoration efforts and toavoid the “checkerboard” that is created when some property owners agreeto be bought out but their neighbors stay.182 Second, the program requiresthat the land be used to implement “beneficial flood mitigation practices,”including practices that help residents relocate outside of the flood-plain,restore the natural flood-plain, prohibit redevelopment of the property, orimplement other activities that contribute to the community’s “flood resil-ience.”183 The legislation shows how funding programs can be designedto specifically leverage partnerships with land trusts to implement buyoutand restoration programs that deliver flood resilience benefits, while alsominimizing the social and financial consequences of managed retreatapproaches to sea-level rise and increasing flood risks.

These examples show how state and local legislation can beadopted to provide financial resources and other incentives to help land

your tax liability with CITC, DUDLEY NEIGHBORS, INC., https://www.dudleyneighbors.org/citc.html [https://perma.cc/WBZ6-E83R] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).178 2019 Cal. Legis. Serv. Ch. 669 (S.B. 196) (West) (amending Revenue and Tax Codesections 75.11, 402.1, and 532, and adding to and repealing section 214.18).179 S. 259, 123rd Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess., at § 48-61-20(4)(c) (S.C. 2019).180 Chloe Johnson, Proposed state fund would help facilitate flood buyouts in SC, POST &COURIER (Dec. 22, 2018), https://www.postandcourier.com/news/proposed-state-fund-would-help-facilitate-flood-buyouts-in-sc/article_12b57dde-fef7-11e8-9a1a-abc58c 71d2ed.html [https://perma.cc/PNL2-FYGM].181 S.C. S. 259 at § 48-61-70.182 Id. § 48-61-50(A).183 Id. § 48-61-50(B)(2).


trusts acquire land and implement publicly beneficial projects to enhanceresilience and sustainability in both natural and built environments. Inthe built environment, states and communities can prioritize land trustsin local housing production and preservation trust funds184 to foster theunique benefits that land trusts bring in stewarding permanently afford-able housing, enhancing community control, building community cohesion,and delivering other environmental and economic benefits in communi-ties. In the natural environment, bonds, disaster recovery funding, andother environmental programs could be directed to land trusts to supportbuyouts, flood-plain restoration, relocation efforts, and adaptive manage-ment of important habitats and ecosystems to address climate risks.

State and local governments can also offer funding and tax incen-tives to help land trusts incorporate sustainability and resilience featuresinto land trust projects—such as green or natural infrastructure, renewableenergy, or community solar. For example, in Austin, Texas, the AustinHousing Finance Corporate is providing financing to the Guadalupe Com-munity Land Trust to help the land trust incorporate green design featuresinto affordable housing projects, such as solar panels and energy efficiencyupgrades, to help the land trust build “net zero” CLT homes for lower-income residents.185 By offering funding and other incentives, governmentscan provide the financial resources land trusts need to not only implementbeneficial projects, but also incorporate climate resilience and sustainabil-ity features into project designs.

3. Training and Technical Assistance

Finally, governments can provide training and technical assistanceto help land trusts start up and develop the capacities needed to fund, fi-nance, and implement a range of projects that deliver broad communitybenefits and help to address climate change. Technical assistance can be

184 To address affordable housing many state and local governments are creating housingtrust funds that can be capitalized with state, local, and federal funds to support new devel-opment and preservation of existing affordable housing. For a description of housing trustfunds, see U.S. DEP’T OF HOUS. & URBAN DEV., OFFICE OF POLICY DEV. & RESEARCH, Modelsfor Affordable Housing Preservation, EVIDENCE MATTERS (Summer 2013), https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/summer13/highlight3.html [https://perma.cc/BT2A-NGRZ].185 Other models deployed in Austin include the installation of solar projects owned byAustin Energy on CLT homes that will eventually be donated to the CLT. See Guadalupe-Saldaña Net Zero Subdivision, GUADALUPE NEIGHBORHOOD DEV. CORP., https://www.guadalupendc.org/guadalupesaldaa-net-zero-subdivison [https://perma.cc/Y77X-ZV38] (lastvisited Mar. 9, 2020).


offered at different stages of their work to build the capacity of land truststo support community initiatives:

• At the initial start-up phase, technical assistancecould be provided to help land trusts incorporate asnon-profits, develop bylaws and other governing doc-uments, and to craft legal agreements to facilitateland acquisition and stewardship (such as acquisi-tion documents, ground leases, conservation ease-ments, etc.).

• During project planning stages, assistance could beprovided to help land trusts identify suitable proper-ties, funding programs, and financing tools to bothacquire lands and implement projects that delivermultiple community benefits.

• At planning, management, and design stages, techni-cal assistance could help land trusts better under-stand and use climate risk assessments to implementprojects that incorporate considerations of sustain-ability and resilience.

This section discusses some examples of how public agencies haveprovided technical support and training to build the capacity of land trustsand offers recommendations for how governments might provide trainingto broaden the roles land trusts are playing in supporting resilience andsustainability initiatives in communities.

Land trusts are a somewhat new innovation and often require sig-nificant start up support and assistance to navigate the legal landscapethat varies from state to state. Land trusts often need support gettingestablished, acquiring properties, accessing funding and financing to im-plement projects, as well as addressing other barriers. One way thatgovernments can support land trust work in communities is by providingtechnical assistance, training, and other resources to help land trusts getestablished and develop their initial portfolio of properties. For example,in the City of Irvine, the City provided an initial grant of $250,000 in fund-ing to start up the Irvine Community Land Trust with the goal of pre-serving affordable housing.186 The City Redevelopment Agency also staffedthe Irvine CLT and provided the technical “know-how” to help the landtrust initiate its first projects. The Mayor and a City Councilmember served

186 ELIASON & TRAUTH, supra note 86, at iv.


on the CLT’s board to help ensure coordination between the CLT and theCity’s housing programs.187 Additionally, the City helped create an initialpipeline of affordable housing units into the CLT’s portfolio by providingfor the direct transfer of affordable units required through the City’s In-clusionary Zoning Program to the CLT.188 Governments could also facili-tate land trusts’ roles in incorporating resilience and sustainability featuresinto land-trust projects (such as renewable energy, community solar,microgrids, green and natural infrastructure, etc.) by providing trainingand technical assistance on how to implement, fund, and finance thesetypes of features in the design and implementation of projects. In this way,land trusts can be empowered to implement projects that deliver multi-ple benefits in communities.

In some areas, land trusts are banding together to form peer-learning networks to help other land trusts establish and begin work inother neighborhoods. For example, in Boston, with support from the BostonMayor’s office, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative brought advocates,researchers, and non-profits together to launch the Greater Boston Com-munity Land Trust Network with the objective of sharing best practicesin the development and application of the community land trust modelthroughout the greater Boston area.189 A group of member organizationsparticipate—including newly formed land trusts in the Chinatown andMattapan neighborhoods.190 The Network helps to raise awareness aboutthe land trust model for delivering and preserving affordable housing,build political support for CLT projects, and refine best practices bylearning from the success of other community land trusts. In addition tolocal networks, the Grounded Solutions Network and the Strong, Prosper-ous, and Resilient Community Challenge (“SPARCC”), a coalition of founda-tions, non-profits, and other organizations supporting equitable resilienceinitiatives in cities,191 are providing technical support and guidance tocommunity land trusts to help them establish and incorporate climate

187 Michael Brown & Rick Jacobus, City Hall Steps In, SHELTERFORCE (Apr. 23, 2007),https://shelterforce.org/2007/04/23/city_hall_steps_in/ [https://perma.cc/CR9Z-KUYL].188 See Davis, Common Ground, supra note 44, at 30 n.65; IRVINE COMMUNITY LAND TR.,supra note 82.189 CHO ET AL., supra note 74, at 7.190 See id. at 2.191 Chris Kabel et al., The SPARCC Initiative: Fostering Racial Equity, Health, and ClimateResilience in the Built Environment, 12 COMMUNITY DEV. INNOVATION REV. 43, 46–47, 49(2017), https://community-wealth.org/sites/clone.community-wealth.org/files/downloads/sparcc-initiative-fostering-racial-equity-health-climate-resilience-in-built-environment.pdf [https://perma.cc/VWS4-PUKF]; GROUNDED SOLUTIONS NETWORK, https://groundedsolutions.org/ [https://perma.cc/CM9J-RRN6] (last visited Mar. 9, 2020).


resilience into their work. And the Land Trust Alliance provides similarsupport for conservation land trusts at a national level and is activelyworking to help its members better understand climate risks and integrateclimate resilience into their work.192 State and local governments canfoster peer-learning networks and provide resources to build the technicalcapacity of land trusts to operate in their communities and implementprojects that address climate resilience and sustainability.

CONCLUSION

Impacts from climate change are already significantly affectingcommunities and ecosystems, and delivering solutions that effectivelyaddress the challenge at the pace and scale needed will require action atall levels of government and in the private sector. The foundational goalsof land trusts—to protect and preserve shared community resources for thebenefit of the environment and future generations—make them uniquelysuited to partner with governments on initiatives to reduce carbon pollu-tion and prepare for climate impacts in both the built and natural envi-ronments. In fact, many land trusts around the country are already playingthese roles. In the built environment, community land trusts are enhanc-ing resilience by building high-quality, permanently affordable housingand stewarding parks, urban gardens, and other community amenitiesthat deliver multiple community benefits. And in the natural environ-ment, conservation land trusts are preserving vulnerable ecosystems andhabitats, restoring natural landscapes to enhance community resilience,and providing training and technical support for local partners. The publicsector can spur these types of public-private partnerships by aligning lawsand policies to better support and enable land trust roles in sustainabilityand resilience initiatives in communities across the United States. Thesetypes of partnerships and projects that deliver multiple benefits to resi-dents and communities will be critical to addressing the climate crisis inways that enable communities and ecosystems to survive and thrive.

192 LAND TR. ALLIANCE, supra note 22.

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